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New England Patriots will face Los Angeles Rams
(CNN)Los Angeles went more than two decades without an NFL team. Now, it has one playing for a championship.
The Rams never led in regulation, but with a 57-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein in overtime, Los Angeles has advanced to Super Bowl LIII with a 26-23 win, shocking the Saints in the NFC title game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday.
But that's not the only game that needed extra time.
The Rams will face a Super Bowl mainstay in the New England Patriots, who held off the Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC Championship 37-31 in overtime.
The Patriots led 14-0 at the half, but Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs stormed back, as the Chiefs second-year quarterback threw for three touchdowns. There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter. A Brady-led drive put the Patriots ahead with 39 seconds left. A field goal from Kansas City's Harrison Butker sent the game to overtime.
The Chiefs would never get the ball back, though, as the Patriots won the coin toss to start the extra period. Brady took the Patriots down the field, leading to a touchdown from Rex Burkhead.
"It's everything, I mean, overtime, on the road, against a great team," Brady said to CBS. "They had no quit. We didn't play our best football. I don't know, man. I'm tired. It was a hell of a game."
Another Super Bowl for Brady, Belichick
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are back in a very familiar place.
They're heading back to another Super Bowl, winning on the road at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Patriots join the Buffalo Bills (1990-1993) and Miami Dolphins (1971-1973) as the third team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls. They also extended their NFL record for Super Bowl appearances to 11.
"I can't say enough about the effort our players gave today," Belichick said. "The coaching staff, it was really an awesome job by all of them. Players have worked so hard throughout the course of the season. I thought they certainly showed a lot of mental and physical toughness tonight against a great football team."
It will be the ninth time in the big game for Belichick and Brady.
Belichick has won five Super Bowls as a head coach, the most Super Bowl wins by a head coach in NFL history. Should he win a sixth, he would join George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only NFL coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933.
Brady is the only quarterback with five Super Bowl wins. The only other NFL player to have won that many is Hall of Fame defensive lineman Charles Haley.
This was the Chiefs first appearance in the AFC championship game since 1994. Their lone Super Bowl title was in 1970, at Super Bowl IV.
"I mean, it hurts," Mahomes said. "It hurts everybody. We knew we had the opportunities this game and this season, and we put in the work. But we know this can be a building block. It can be something that carries us in the future. Right now it's the end but hopefully it's just the beginning of a long time."
Zuerlein kicks into history
The Rams' franchise, which originated in Cleveland in 1937, played in Los Angeles from 1946-1994 before leaving for St. Louis for 21 seasons. During that stretch, they reached two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XXXIV against the Tennessee Titans in Atlanta at the now-demolished Georgia Dome.
The location of this season's title game on February 3 happens to be where the Rams last won: Atlanta. And while it's not at the same site, the venue, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is right next door to where the Dome once stood.
"Our team demonstrated great mental toughness," Rams head coach Sean McVay said to Fox Sports. McVay, who turns 33 on Thursday, is the youngest head coach to lead a team to the Super Bowl.
Zuerlein's kick was the longest game-winning field goal in playoff history.
"I really wasn't thinking much," Zuerlein said. "I just looked up and saw it was going straight and I was happy. I knew it was going to be long enough because I thought I hit it pretty well."
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