The future appears bright for Lions and Ravens despite all of their heartaches and mistakes.
The Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions, who were only a few inches away from advancing to Super Bowl 58 on the Las Vegas Strip next week, both lost their cool and the ball.
Unfortunately, both teams appeared to be high-rolling, reckless gamblers, just like the ones that the bookmakers adore.
Instead, it will be a rematch of the Super Bowl four years ago between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Lions coach Dan Campbell lost two significant wagers by going for it on fourth down in field goal range, and the Ravens threw away their favorable odds with a string of questionable calls that resulted in two end-zone turnovers, eight yellow flags, and three turnovers to KC’s zero.
These included rookie Zay Flowers’ fumble at the goal line after a foolish taunting call following a big catch, and Lamar Jackson’s throw into triple coverage.
But if past performance is any indication, one of these runners-up will learn from all of their errors, blunders, and misjudgments on championship weekend in order to qualify for Super Bowl 59, which will take place in the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, one year from now.
The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl this year after Brock Purdy engineered back-to-back second-half comebacks against the Packers and Lions in the playoffs. Last year, the 49ers were crushed 31-7 by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC title game.
The Niners prevented the Lions from making their first-ever Super Bowl appearance by scoring on each of their first five possessions in the second half of the game on Sunday after building a 24–7 lead at halftime.
After the Chiefs were defeated 27-24 by the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game after the 2021 season, they are playing in their second consecutive Super Bowl.
Yes, there is still hope for dejected Baltimore and disheartened Detroit.
Of course, conference runners-up abound who failed to turn their collapses on championship weekend into a breakthrough the following year.
The Eagles raced out to a 10-1 start this season, looking like a team ready to make up for their 38-35 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57 last year. However, they lost six of their final seven games in one of the biggest collapses in Philly sports history.
The Bengals didn’t even make it back to the playoffs this season after losing quarterback Joe Burrow to a broken wrist in November. Last year, they lost to Kansas City 23–20 in the AFC championship game.
After his early departure, neither head coach was dejected; instead, they both understood how difficult it would be to return, much less overcome such a significant obstacle.
“The advice is to keep your eyes straight ahead.” Ravens
