Super Bowl 2024: Date, Schedule and Predicting Teams for NFL Championship Game
The NFL's divisional round was a fun one. Unlike Wild Card Weekend, there were no major upsets and only one true blowout. It's hard to argue that the four best teams aren't headed to the championship round.
The Kansas City Chiefs were slight underdogs against the Buffalo Bills and the only road team to win over the weekend. Their combination of a stout defense, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, though, makes the Chiefs a perennial Super Bowl threat.
The Detroit Lions held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will head to the NFC title game for the first time since 1991. The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers were the two No. 1 seeds and will advance, as most expected.
Only one round remains before the participants for Super Bowl LVIII are set. Let's take a look at the upcoming schedule and make a few predictions.
Super Bowl Schedule
Conference Championship Round
Date: Sunday, January 28
Chiefs at Ravens Time: 3 p.m. ET
Lions at 49ers Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Super Bowl LVIII
Who: AFC vs. NFC
Date: Sunday, February 11
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
TV and Live Stream: CBS, Univision and Paramount+
AFC Prediction
The Ravens have looked and played like the best team in the NFL for most of the year. Lamar Jackson is your likely MVP, and Baltimore's new-look passing attack has made the Ravens offense nearly unstoppable.
The Ravens haven't lost a meaningful game since facing the division-rival Cleveland Browns in Week 10. Jackson and many of the Baltimore Starters sat out the meaningless season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Chiefs, while extremely talented, aren't as familiar with Baltimore as the Browns and Steelers are. That's meaningful because preparing to slow Jackson is different than preparing for almost any other quarterback.
And Jackson has flourished under offensive coordinator Todd Monken and with new receivers Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham Jr. On top of that, the Ravens feature the league's best scoring defense.
While Mahomes and the Chiefs found enough offense to best the Bills in Buffalo, Kansas City's passing attack has remained inconsistent all season. Beyond Travis Kelce and rookie receiver Rashee Rice, Mahomes has few targets he can truly trust.
With standout guard Joe Thuney suffering a pectoral injury against Buffalo, the Chiefs may struggle against Baltimore's fearsome pass rush.
The Chiefs narrowly escaped Buffalo when Tyler Bass missed a would-be game-tying field goal near the end of the fourth quarter. Justin Tucker rarely misses for the Ravens, who are arguably the most complete team in the league.
Barring an injury, Jackson is poised to play in his first Super Bowl.
NFC Prediction
The Lions have never played in a Super Bowl, and their path to the NFC Championship Game hasn't been easy. Detroit squeaked out a one-point win over the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round before outlasting the Buccaneers by eight points.
However, the Lions are fine with taking the hard road.
"Things aren't always easy here," head coach Dan Campbell said, per The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner. "But that's what we're about."
Detroit is a dangerous matchup for San Francisco because it can stop the run and features a multi-faceted offense loaded with playmakers. Jared Goff might not be viewed as an elite quarterback, but he's more than capable of distributing the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Sam LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
The 49ers are also loaded with playmaking talent. Quarterback Brock Purdy was an MVP candidate for much of the season, and he can lean on the likes of Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk when necessary.
However, with Deebo Samuel sidelined for most of the divisional round, Purdy struggled for much of the game against the Green Bay Packers. Samuel is one of two key players to watch leading up to this matchup.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Samuel (shoulder) is considered "50-50" to play against Detroit. The Lions, meanwhile, are unlikely to have standout guard Jonah Jackson.
Both injuries loom large, but Samuel's may be more critical. With him out of the lineup, the 49ers lost three straight games in October. If Samuel can go, he won't be at 100 percent, and that could be enough for Detroit to finally end its Super Bowl drought.
Look for the Lions to do exactly that.