After an exciting NFL season rife with storylines and drama, we were this close to an intriguing Super Bowl 58 matchup. We almost got Lamar Jackson, the greatest dual-threat quarterback ever, and his juggernaut Baltimore Ravens facing off against the Detroit Lions, the de facto Chicago Cubs of pro football.

Instead, it’s Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs (again) against the San Francisco 49ers (again). Bleh. How uninspired. How anti-climatic. How disappointing.

None of this is to say the Chiefs and 49ers don’t belong here. They ran through their respective AFC and NFC playoff fields and earned their keep with their conference titles. But outside of a few extenuating new factors, we already saw the Chiefs and 49ers match up in a Super Bowl in February 2020. We’ve already seen Mahomes play in the big game, his fourth in six years as a starter. We know the 49ers are largely great everywhere except at quarterback — which is more or less their same storyline from 2020!

There’s nothing refreshing or compelling about this matchup that we haven’t seen before. It’s essentially the same script with the same football figures we’ve watched for nearly half a decade. And given the Chiefs’ transition toward becoming a power offense with a strong defense, the “rematch” will probably also be more of a slog. Here’s hoping the game turns out to be competitive, let alone a classic. Many people will definitely watch the biggest sporting event in the United States, anyway.

But it sure feels like we missed out on something special in Las Vegas in two weeks, and that’s a real shame for the NFL world.