Super Bowl Rematch: What Happens When Teams Face Familiar Opponent

Super Bowl Rematch: What Happens When Teams Face Familiar Opponent
Fact Checked by Jim Tomlin

We officially have a Big Game rematch in Super Bowl LVIII. The Kansas City Chiefs of the AFC and the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers tangle inside Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, four years after the two teams met in Miami. There won’t be legal Missouri sports betting for the game but BetMissouri.com still has you covered.

Four years ago, when the teams met in South Florida, the Chiefs won 31-20 thanks to a 21-point fourth quarter. In those final 15 minutes, Patrick Mahomes threw for two touchdowns (to Travis Kelce and Damien Williams) and Williams added a 38-yard rushing score to cap off the evening.

In the more than 1,400 days since the teams last met on the NFL’s brightest stage, the Chiefs have gone on to win another Super Bowl title, capturing Super Bowl LVII over the Philadelphia Eagles. San Francisco has gone 41-26 (.692) in the regular season since then but got knocked out twice in the NFC title game before making it back to the Big Game this year.

BetMissouri.com – where you will find coverage of the ongoing push for legal Missouri sportsbook apps – used ESPN data to explore the performances of teams who have previously played against one another. All data was pulled only from the first and second Super Bowl games in which the teams played each other (the third Super Bowl meeting between Pittsburgh and Dallas, in 1995, was not included).

Super Bowl Rematches: What Happened In Second Meeting

Team Won First And Second Team Lost First, Won Second
4 (66.7%) 2 (33.3%)

Teams: Miami vs. Washington (January 1973 and ‘83), Dallas vs. Pittsburgh (January 1976 and ‘79), San Francisco vs Cincinnati (January 1982 and ‘89), Dallas vs. Buffalo (January 1993 and ‘94), Philadelphia vs. New England (February 2005 & ‘18) and NY Giants vs. New England (February 2008 and ‘12).

  • Miami vs. Washington: Miami won first matchup, Washington won second
  • Dallas vs. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh won both
  • San Francisco vs. Cincinnati: San Francisco won both
  • Dallas vs. Buffalo: Dallas won both
  • Philadelphia vs. New England: New England won first, Philadelphia won second
  • New York Giants vs. New England: New York won both

Can Chiefs Win Super Bowl Rematch?

According to the trends we found (from six examples of Super Bowl rematches), 66% of teams that won the first Super Bowl meeting also captured the second. That gives the 49ers a 33% chance of winning after that loss to the Chiefs four years ago, if this trend holds.

The Chiefs are looking to move the all-time Super Bowl rematch record to 5-2 on Sunday, a stone’s throw from The Strip, in Super Bowl LVIII.

Oddsmakers from ESPN BET Sportsbook list Kansas City as a 1.5-point underdog in Super Bowl LVIII, with a +104 moneyline for Andy Reid’s team, to -124 for the Niners.

If Kansas City can pull off the slight upset, the team will join the Dallas Cowboys of January 1994 (who beat the Buffalo Bills in successive seasons), as well as the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers (who beat Dallas in 1976 as well), the Niners of 1989 (who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in 1982) and the 2012 New York Giants (who also beat the New England Patriots in February 2008).

Only two teams that lost the first meeting against an opponent won the rematch. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Patriots in February 2018 after losing to them in 2005. And Washington, which previously lost to the Miami Dolphins in January 1973, beat the Fins in the second go-round in January 1983.

Come Sunday, we’ll know for sure which camp Reid and the Chiefs will join. And keep an eye on BetMissouri.com, where we will have the best Missouri sports betting promos when they become available.

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan is a lead writer for BetMissouri.com, specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

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