Super Bowl LIV Part Deux 🏈🏆✌️

Good morning. This is the Opening Drive, the weekly newsletter that brings you the best of the NFL so you’re always the smartest one at the water cooler.

Brock Purdy (“Mr. Irrelevant”) led the 49ers to a comeback win over the Lions, Travis Kelce set an NFL playoff record, Patrick Mahomes might actually be the 🐐, and Taylor Swift has the perfect kiss-proof red lipstick 💄 (who knew?!).

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Super Bowl LVII is set. We’ll see you in Vegas! Now, let’s dive in.

QUICK HITS

• 49ers erase 17-point deficit, defeat the Lions to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 2020 (Fox Sports)

• Chiefs win 4th AFC Championship in 5 years, set up rematch with 49ers in Super Bowl (ESPN)

• Travis Kelce set an NFL playoff record for most receptions in the post-season, passing Jerry Rice (ESPN)

• Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy among players named AP Most Valuable Player finalists (CBS Sports)

• Falcons hire Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as head coach (ESPN)

• Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan, bolts for LA to become Chargers’ head coach (ESPN)

• Panthers hire Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as head coach (NY Post)

• Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan is named Titans’ head coach (Sports Illustrated)

• Dolphins former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hired by Eagles (CBS Sports)

• Peacock added 2.8M subscribers leading up to the Jan. 13 Wild Card game (NY Post)

• The NFL and NFL Players Association are working on a plan to get NFL players on the field when flag football becomes an Olympic sport in 2028 (NBC Sports)

• Engineers are examining Patrick Mahomes’ broken helmet (Bleacher Report)

• Players will not be allowed to gamble in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week (USA Today)

• Seth Walder takes readers behind the analytics of going for it on fourth down (ESPN)

• NFL officials are looking to avoid a repeat of last year’s slippery field at the Super Bowl (Pro Football Talk)

• Charles Barkley has a ‘man-crush’ on Dan Campbell (Athlon Sports)

• Dan Quinn is set to interview with the Commanders next week (Pro Football Talk)

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SCOREBOARD

Conference Championship Weekend

NFC
31 - Detroit Lions (3)
34 - San Francisco 49ers (1)

AFC
17 - Kansas City Chiefs (3)
10 - Baltimore Ravens (1)

WHO’S UP? WHO’S DOWN?

Who’s up?
Brock Purdy. Game manager, system quarterback, Mr. Irrelevant — Brock Purdy has lots of names, and you can now add NFC Champion quarterback to that list. The 49ers quarterback is now 21-5 as an NFL starter and headed to his first Super Bowl. Purdy led the 49ers to a historic come-from-behind victory on Sunday, going 20 for 31 for 267 yards with one touchdown and one interception. But it was his 48 yards on the ground including a 21-yard scamper late in the 3rd quarter on critical 2nd and long that helped propel the former Iowa Cyclone’s team to the win. As sure-fire future NFL Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams said, “He’s the reason we’re here. He’s the reason we’re going to the Super Bowl.”

Who’s down?
Bill Belichick. According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, Belichick is “not the favorite” for the Falcons’ job. This report comes despite Belichick meeting with team officials twice in as many weeks. However, late last week there were reports that the effort “lost momentum.” Interestingly, five teams have filled head coaching vacancies and the Falcons are the only team so far to request a formal interview with the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach. Schefter acknowledged that patterns in hiring cycles often change, as teams sometimes start interested in a candidate and grow disinterested, or vice versa. So while it’s possible that interest in Belichick picks up, for now it seems that Belichick is not the hot candidate we all assumed he would be.

HEAD COACH UPDATE

The Commanders and the Seahawks are the last teams still in search of their next head coach (so far 👀). Keep track of the latest coach and coordinator moves here.

Atlanta Falcons ✅ 
Carolina Panthers ✅ 
Las Vegas Raiders ✅ 
Los Angeles Chargers ✅ 
New England Patriots ✅
Seattle Seahawks ❌
Tennessee Titans ✅ 
Washington Commanders ❌

NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Patrick Mahomes has now made the Super Bowl in four of his six seasons as a starter. 🤯 That’s not a typo. Mahomes’s won two NFL MVPs, been 1st-Team All-Pro twice, won two Super Bowls, and been Super Bowl MVP twice. The term GOAT gets thrown around a lot, but in the case of Mahomes it might be appropriate. It’s safe to say we’re seeing a level of greatness at the quarterback position not seen before. Arguably, not even Tom Brady has not had this level of post-season success, at least not this early in his career. Mahomes now heads to Las Vegas where he’ll try and lead the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowl victories for the first time since that guy in New England did it in 2005.

Did you know? (via NFL Research)

🏈 Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are the third QB-receiver (WR or TE) duo to start 4+ Super Bowls together in NFL history. The others? Tom Brady-Rob Gronkowski (5) and Jim Kelly-Andre Reed (4).
🏈 Patrick Mahomes will be the first quarterback in NFL history to start in four Super Bowls before turning 30.
🏈 Travis Kelce has six career playoff games with 10+ receptions, (twice as many as any other player in NFL history) and 70+ yards in 12 straight playoff games.
🏈 Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce now hold the record for most touchdowns by a QB-receiver duo in postseason history with 17.

Bonus did you know? (via Apex Marketing Group)

❤️ Taylor Swift generated an equivalent brand value of $331.5 million for the Chiefs and the NFL. The figure includes print, digital, radio, TV, highlights, and social media going back to Swift’s first game in Sept.

BEST LOOK 🔥 

The Lions may have lost but their ice whites continue to impress 🤤. Would love to see an alternate blue helmet with this look next season.

MEME OF THE WEEK