This past weekend was the official kick-off of the 2024 football season. Opening weekend consisted of many different games among the National and American football conferences, with 14 games on Sunday, and one game on Monday.
The season got a head start with the NFL kickoff game on Sept. 5, with the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs playing the Baltimore Ravens. The Chiefs took the 20-27 win on their home field in Kansas City.
According to the NFL, on Monday night, the San Francisco 49ers played the New York Jets in the National Football Conference. The final score was 19-32, with the 49er’s winning. This puts the 49er’s in the lead of the NFC west group, beating the Seahawks, the Cardinals, and the Rams.
“I’m really excited about the football season starting back up again,” sophomore Fiona Brentani said. “I look forward to watching the games over the weekend and keeping up with the scores,”
The regular season will consist of 272 games and will take place over the next 18 weeks with teams competing to secure a spot in the playoffs. The first playoff game will occur on Jan. 11, 2025.
“It is sometimes hard to follow all the scores at the beginning of the football season,” junior Aoibhinn Reidy said. “I usually pay the most attention to the outcomes of my favorite teams,”
There are a total of 14 teams that advance to the playoffs — seven from the American Football Conference and seven from the NFC. The top team of the AFC and the NFC during the regular season get a bye for the first round of playoffs. The other six teams in each division will compete in a wild card round to secure one of the eight spots in the divisionals. The divisionals narrow each conference down to 2 teams, who will compete for the conference championship. The AFC and NFC conference champions play in the Super Bowl for the coveted Lombardi Trophy.
“I’m always anxious to see what teams will make it to the top 14,” junior Elizabeth Fox said. “There are so many games in the season and the outcomes can be very unpredictable,”
In addition to the start of the football season, the official Super Bowl halftime show performer was announced. Rap artist Kendrick Lamar shared on Instagram that he will be the halftime show performer for the Super Bowl. Super Bowl LIX will take place on Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans. According to NBC Sports, the game will be played at Caesars Superdome, the venue that is home to the New Orleans Saints.
“I’m really excited about the Super Bowl this year,” Brentani said. “I think that the halftime show will be very cool this year, and seeing all of the top teams compete will also be really exciting.”
