Category: NFL News

The 49ers are playing well. And the Chiefs are not.

San Francisco extended its lead in Super Bowl LVIII to 10 points with an eight-play, 67-yard drive that ended with receiver Jauan Jennings throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey on a gadget play.

Quarterback Brock Purdy laterals to Jennings on the left side of the field. Jennings then threw a forward pass back across to McCaffrey, who ran roughly 26 yards for the score.

The Chiefs gifted the 49ers 15 yards along the way, after Kansas City cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a second-down play.

McCaffrey is the early favorite for MVP. He has 27 rushing yards on eight carries and 47 receiving yards on five catches, along with the only touchdown of the game. However, he has a lost fumble from the first drive of the game.

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CBS

The debate about the best Super Bowl halftime performance could go on for hours, and no two people will agree on an answer. However, there is no denying the best Bubble Bowl performance, and that act is coming to Super Bowl LVIII with the help of CBS and Nickelodeon.

Over 20 years ago, in 2001, the “SpongeBob SquarePants” episode “Band Geeks” aired and became an instant classic. In the episode, SpongeBob and all his friends form a band to play the halftime show at the Bubble Bowl, a fictional championship game.

The plot culminates with SpongeBob’s band emerging from below a football field, which was actually old footage taken from a USFL game at the Liberty Bowl involving the Memphis Showboats. SpongeBob then belts out David Glen Eisley’s “Sweet Victory,” creating one of the most memorable moments in the show’s long history.

Now, SpongeBob and his band will perform “Sweet Victory” on Nickelodeon’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. SpongeBob and co. will begin the event with the song, setting the table for what should be an exciting matchup between two juggernauts on the field. (You can also watch the Super Bowl on CBS or stream it on Paramount+.)

The rest of the broadcast, called “Super Bowl LVIII Live from Bikini Bottom,” will feature SpongeBob and friends as they help play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle and analyst Nate Burleson call the game. There will also be special appearances from other Nickelodeon stars, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Super Bowl LVIII is Feb. 11 on CBS. The game will also be broadcast on Nickelodeon and streamed on Paramount+.  

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If PFT Live had a guest Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith (an annual Super Bowl-week guest) would have earned a spot with Friday’s visit alone.

The full video is attached. Emmitt was as funny and engaging as ever. He also has very pointed in his criticisms of the current Cowboys.

It started with a simple question: Were you surprised owner Jerry Jones didn’t fire head coach Mike McCarthy after a 48-32 home playoff loss to the Packers?

“I was completely surprised,” Emmitt said. “I know how disappointed I was as a player to see that product put on the football field. It is not becoming of the Dallas Cowboys’ mystique, respect, the brand. It is not the appropriate representation of the brand itself. Now, Jerry understand these kind of words. The brand, right? The star. Everything has to be pristine, but this was not that. That right there was so disappointing not only to me, but to many of our fans and including people that was like, ‘What is that?’ It wasn’t a good look.”

I asked Emmitt about my own theory that Jerry’s quest for another Super Bowl win is all talk, that he claims to want to win one more to keep the fans engaged but that his actions don’t back up his world.

“You lose credibility,” Emmitt said of Jones. “And if you’re losing credibility, you’re losing respect. You lose respect, you have no honor. At the end of the day, I agree to some level. Things have to change. I thought the reason why I was so convinced that [McCarthy] was going to get fired because last year there was a whole lot of talk about ‘OK, this might be it. If he doesn’t perform this year, OK.’ You’re gonna accept twelve wins and the playoff berth, but you’re gonna accept the way we got kicked out of the playoffs? I mean, dominated. I mean, it’s like we went out and played with our hands tied behind our backs or we left our minds up in [the team facility in] Frisco and didn’t even take it over to AT&T [Stadium] in Arlington. It was such a disappointing thing. It…

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The San Francisco 49ers’ final injury report heading into Super Bowl LVIII only consists of one player carrying an injury designation, an excellent sign for a team looking for their first NFL championship in 29 years. Defensive tackle Kalia Davis (ankle) is the only player on the 49ers’ injury report up in the air for Sunday as he’s listed as questionable. 

Davis has played just 54 defensive snaps for the 49ers all season, and none in the postseason. He could be listed as a game-day inactive come Sunday, even though he was listed as a full participant in Friday’s practice.

Things certainly changed from the 49ers’ initial injury report on Wednesday. Tight end George Kittle (toe) and defensive lineman Arik Armstead (knee/foot) were limited during the team’s first practice of the week. They were elevated to full participants by Friday and not given an injury designation. 

Cornerback Ambry Thomas (ankle) and linebacker Oren Burks (shoulder), who were both limited practice participants all of last week, were limited on Wednesday. They were also full participants by Friday. 

The 49ers are one win away from winning the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl and first since the 1994 season. It’s been a long road for San Francisco, who are hoping to put years of disappointing playoff finishes behind them by beating the Kansas City Chiefs, who edged them in Super Bowl LIV four years ago. 

Entering Super Bowl Sunday, the 49ers are relatively healthy. 

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USATSI

Lamar Jackson used his MVP acceptance speech to discuss an old storyline that dominated the headlines for several years. 

Now a two-time league MVP, Jackson thanked the Ravens for financially investing in him with a hefty new contract before the start of the 2023 season. The two had been locked in a tough negotiation prior to getting a deal done. 

“I want to thank the Ravens for finally getting the deal done,” Jackson said during Thursday night’s NFL Honors.

Jackson inked a five-year, $260 million deal prior to his second MVP season. Along with financially investing in him, the Ravens also gave Jackson a new wideout in rookie Zay Flowers. They also gave him a new offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, who built an offense that tailored to Jackson’s strengths. Jackson responded with his best season since 2019, when he won his first MVP. 

Jackson and the Ravens came up one game short in their Super Bowl…

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No person is under more pressure in Super Bowl LVIII than San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. He’s been the play-caller (either offensive coordinator or head coach) for two of the six largest blown leads in Super Bowl history (more on that in a minute). 

First, let me recognize that the high expectations and pressure come equally because of his coaching excellence as they do the blown playoff leads. He’s coaching in his second Super Bowl at age 44 and is one of the best offensive minds the NFL has ever seen. His teams average the most yards per play and yards per pass attempt of any head coach in NFL history (min. 100 games). Until Brock Purdy arrived, he managed to guide his teams to historic levels of offensive efficiency without a Pro Bowl QB.

He just helped Purdy set an NFL record for yards per pass attempt in a season (9.6) with at least 350 attempts. The record Purdy broke belonged to Matt Ryan from 2016 — when Shanahan was Ryan’s OC. Shanahan is an expert at creating deception, space and mismatches with his playmakers. You can see the impact of his style also paying dividends with two of his disciples in Miami (head coach Mike McDaniel) and Houston (offensive coordinator/play caller Bobby Slowik). 

Shanahan’s ability to play chess with motion and a position-less group of superstar playmakers puts defenses in a blender. On any given play we could see running back Christian McCaffrey lined up at wide receiver, fullback Kyle Juszczyk split out wide, wide receiver Deebo Samuel at “wide back” and tight end George Kittle in the slot, all with any combination of them in motion. 

Shanahan’s greatness is clearly a big reason his teams are consistently competing for Super Bowls. It’s also a reason he faces a lot of scrutiny when his teams fall short of the ultimate prize. There have been two primary narratives following Shanahan for years: He can’t come from behind to win…

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USATSI

It’s almost here! On Sunday — Feb. 11, 2024 — the defending NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will square off at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII — and these two teams have been in this position before. As a matter of fact, these same teams played each other in the Super Bowl just four years ago, and they’ll do it again on the biggest stage in just a few days.

For the first time ever, CBS Sports will have the Super Bowl available in 1080p High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 4K HDR. The 4K HDR feed will be supplied to various MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributor) and vMVPDs (Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor).

Super Bowl LVIII will not be the only program offered on these feeds. Over 10 hours of coverage will air on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+, and will be available on all feeds offered by the network.

CBS Sports’ pregame, halftime and postgame coverage will also be available on 1080p HDR and 4K HDR.

HDR has a better display detail in shadow and bright scenes and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) displays a more vivid range of colors. The two provide a brighter and more colorful screening. 

This year, Usher will be the halftime show performer, and his performance will be even more vibrant in 1080p HDR and 4K HDR.

Super Bowl LVIII will take place at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, in Nevada’s first time hosting the game.

How to watch 2024 Super Bowl

Date: Sunday, Feb. 11Time: 6:30 p.m. ETLocation: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)TV: CBS, Nickelodeon Stream: Available via Paramount+ on all platforms, or sign in with your TV provider on CBS.com or CBS Sports apps 

Note: This marks the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl will be broadcast in…

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Don’t look now, but the Kansas City Chiefs are set to play in their second straight Super Bowl, and their fourth in five years. The Chiefs won their sixth straight AFC title game after ousting the Baltimore Ravens on the road. The upset marked Patrick Mahomes’ second road playoff game aside from past Super Bowl appearances. Kansas City previously beat the Bills in Buffalo in the divisional round.

Mahomes and Co. ended the regular season 11-6, with some ups and downs giving them their most losses since 2014. Now they look to win back-to-back NFL titles, but standing in their way are the San Francisco 49ers. As Kansas City prepares to face the NFC’s top-seeded team, here are three reasons to root the Chiefs on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas.

1. A dynasty in the making

The Chiefs have been an AFC powerhouse for years, making the playoffs every year since 2015 and reaching three Super Bowls since 2019, winning two of them. They defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl last year and are looking for their second straight championship. 

Kansas City can do something no team has done since the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005 (Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX) by winning back-to-back championships. The Chiefs have proven time and time again they are the team to beat since Mahomes became the starter.

The Chiefs are on the verge of securing that dynasty status, so why not be along for the ride while they attempt to do so. 

2. Rooting for trio of Mahomes, Kelce, Reid

In the divisional round, Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce dethroned Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowksi for most touchdowns in the playoffs by a quarterback-receiver duo with 19. The two are arguably the greatest QB-TE duo and continuing to make their case with each game.

Mahomes finished the regular season going 10-6 in 16 games, with a career high in completion percentage (67.2), along with 4,183 passing yards and 14 interceptions.

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