NFC AFC Championship Games Brock Purdy Lamar Jackson and others

NFC, AFC Championship Games: Brock Purdy, Lamar Jackson and others with most at stake – The Athletic

The Athletic has live coverage of the Ravens vs. Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

We've reached the final four.

The NFL conference championship games begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday in Baltimore, where the Ravens host the Kansas City Chiefs, whose AFC title is on the line. Then, at 6:30 p.m. ET, the San Francisco 49ers welcome the Detroit Lions to the NFC Championship Game.

The mission is simple: win and you'll be in – in the Super Bowl, that is. Baltimore is the favorite by 3 1/2 points, while San Francisco has the advantage by a touchdown.

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Vic's Picks, Conference Championships: 49ers, Ravens heading to Super Bowl rematch

The Ravens and 49ers are the No. 1 seeds; The Chiefs and Lions are both seeded No. 3. Will the top seeds reach the Super Bowl or will one or both underdogs prevail? Kansas City and Philadelphia reached the big game last year as No. 1 seeds. But this was only the 14th time since the NFL introduced seedings in 1975 that both No. 1 players reached the Super Bowl.

Here's a look at some of the key players with the most at stake on Sunday.

Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens

For the Chiefs, who are seeking their fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five seasons…

• Andy Reid was already in elite company last season when he became just the 14th coach in NFL history to win multiple Lombardi Trophies. But with a win on Sunday, he would become just the fifth head coach in history with five Super Bowl appearances. He would also position himself for a shot at an even more exclusive club, as only four coaches — Bill Belichick (six), Chuck Noll (four), Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs (three) — have won at least three Super Bowls. Reid would also have a chance to become only the seventh coach in league history to win two straight Super Bowls.

• Quarterback Patrick Mahomes strives for greatness as he competes in a sixth straight conference championship. As a sixth-year starter, he doesn't even know what it's like not to play in this game. He is attempting to reach his fourth Super Bowl and join Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, John Elway and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to win two consecutive Super Bowls. Only Aikman (three), Montana and Bradshaw (four) and Brady (seven) have at least three Super Bowl rings, and Mahomes is eager to join that club before he even turns 29.

• Tight end Travis Kelce and Mahomes just broke Brady and Rob Gronkowski's record for most playoff touchdowns in league history, and now Kelce needs just seven catches to tie Jerry Rice (151) for the most postseason -Receptions to surpass in history. Kelce has recorded at least six catches and 70 yards in each of his five career games against Baltimore.

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NFL playoffs: Key matchups in the Ravens-Chiefs AFC championship game

For the Ravens, who are hosting the AFC Championship Game for the first time and seeking their third Super Bowl appearance…

• Coach John Harbaugh is coaching in his second AFC championship game and seeking his second Super Bowl appearance and victory since winning it all in the 2012 season.

• Quarterback Lamar Jackson is playing in his first AFC title game and looking to cap what is expected to be his second career MVP season with his first Super Bowl victory. A win on Sunday would also help Jackson further silence his critics. Despite his outstanding physical abilities and growing list of accolades, he never receives the same respect as fellow quarterbacks like Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. A win over Mahomes and a trip to the Super Bowl can help him do just that, and a Lombardi Trophy would erase any doubts about his status as one of the best quarterbacks and playmakers in league history.

• Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s comeback tour continues with a chance to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2022, when he helped the Rams defeat the Bengals. Beckham's Super Bowl experience was incomplete, however, as he suffered a torn ACL in the first half after recording two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Beckham was out of football all of last season while he rehabbed, and the Ravens gave him a long-awaited opportunity to resume his career this fall. The 31-year-old isn't as explosive as he once was, but his 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns have helped make the Ravens' new-look receiving unit more complete. Beckham would love to return to the Super Bowl and contribute from start to finish, but first he has to help the Ravens get past the Chiefs' stout defense.

Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers

For the Lions, who are playing in just their second NFC Championship game in franchise history…

• Dan Campbell is trying to reach the Super Bowl for the first time as a coach after turning the Lions from a laughingstock that opened the 2021 season 0-10-1 into one of the league's best teams. Campbell was a tight end on the New York Giants team that lost to Baltimore in Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001.

• Lions quarterback Jared Goff remains on a mission to prove the LA Rams made a mistake when they deemed him unfit to lead a championship team and traded him to Detroit for Matthew Stafford in 2021. In the 2018 season, Goff helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl, but he (like the rest of the Rams) struggled against the Patriots. Goff passed for just 229 yards, with a completion rate of just 50 percent and one interception. He was also fired four times. Since moving to Detroit, Goff has helped drive the Lions' culture change and rise to prominence. He gained a high level of recognition by defeating Sean McVay and the Rams in the wild-card round two weeks ago, and he shined again in the divisional round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It would be huge for Goff to beat the 49ers.

• Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who grew up in suburban Detroit and played at the University of Michigan, grew up a Lions fan. He wants nothing more than to continue to support his hometown team and give his fans their first Super Bowl victory. Hutchinson has been on a roll, recording eight sacks in the last four games, including three in the playoffs. In the regular season, he posted a career-high 11 1/2 sacks and 14 tackles for a loss, as well as three forced fumbles and seven pass breakups.

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NFL playoffs: Key matchups in the 49ers-Lions NFC Championship Game

For the 49ers, who have made it to the NFC Championship Game in the last three years and four times in the last five seasons…

• Coach Kyle Shanahan is trying to get his team back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2019 season, when the 49ers lost to the Chiefs. Quarterback injuries derailed San Francisco in the conference title game last year, but with a healthy Brock Purdy, Shanahan is now hoping to finally get his team over the hump. The seventh-year head coach is also trying to join his father, Mike Shanahan, as the first father-son duo to ever win Super Bowls. The elder Shanahan won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII as coach of the Denver Broncos.

• Purdy is attempting to join Kurt Warner, Brady, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks to lead their teams to Super Bowl victories in their second season in the league. Purdy had a shaky performance for most of last week's divisional playoff game against Green Bay before finally picking up his momentum in the fourth quarter and leading the winning drive. Purdy has tried to shrug off criticism that he is merely a game manager, but a strong performance in a win on Sunday would provide some vindication.

• Running back Christian McCaffrey totaled 128 yards (98 rushing, 30 receiving) and two touchdowns in last week's playoff opener. With this performance, he recorded at least 50 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of the first five playoff games of his career. With another performance like this, McCaffrey can become just the third player in NFL history (along with Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis) to extend his winning streak to six games. McCaffrey delivered an MVP season with 1,459 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns as well as 564 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches. But he wants a Super Bowl ring so he can be like his father, Ed, a wide receiver who won three games (one with San Francisco and two with Mike Shanahan's Broncos).

(Top photos of Purdy and Jackson: Lachlan Cunningham and Todd Olszewski / Getty Images)