NEW ORLEANS — For the second time in three years, it will be the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
The two teams played each other in Super Bowl LVII in 2023, and Kansas City rallied in the fourth quarter of that game to take a heart-stopping 38-35 victory on a Harrison Butker field goal with eight seconds left to play.
The Chiefs and Eagles will now go at it again on Sunday, Feb. 9, in New Orleans, but things are different.
The Eagles have a revamped defense, a more mature Jalen Hurts and one of the best — if not the best — offensive lines in the NFL.
Oh, and a 2,000-yard, game-breaking running back in former Penn State All-American Saquon Barkley.
Yet the Chiefs are going for a three-peat, and there are a number of reasons why this year’s hill will be just as steep for the Eagles to climb as it was in 2023.
The first, and probably most obvious, is quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes might not overwhelm you with stats, but he knows how to win and how to run an offense. He already has the second most playoff game-winning drives behind Tom Brady, and he showed that in the last Super Bowl against the Eagles.
After Philly scored to tie the game at 35-35 with five minutes to play, Mahomes steadily drove the Chiefs down the field to the Eagles’ 20-yard line. From there, Butker nailed the chip shot to win the game.
Mahomes threw for 3,928 yards in 2024 for an average of 245 yards per game and 36 touchdowns. He’s also added 422 yards and two touchdowns in the postseason.
The second is the Chief’s defense. The question is can they stop Barkley and the Eagles’ running game?
Well, for the season, they gave up an average of 19.2 points per game and just 101 rushing yards per game and 13 touchdowns. The Chiefs are tough against the run, and they also had 41 sacks and 11 interceptions. So if they even just slow down Barkley, Hurts and the Eagles’ passing game will be put under tremendous pressure. KC has definitely noticed that Hurts has already been sacked 11 times in the postseason so far.
Finally, this is the Chiefs.
They have won the last two Super Bowls. They are coming into the game with a record of 17-2, including the playoffs. They have won 12 one-score games this season and lost just one game, to Buffalo, with Mahomes playing. Their other loss came in the final game of the season when backup (and former Eagle) Carson Wentz played.
Their coach is Andy Reid, who has more wins than any other coach in Chiefs’ history with 143. Fun fact, he also holds the all-time record for wins as the Eagles’ head coach with 130.
Simply said, the Chiefs always seem to find a way to win.
There are many other threads running through this matchup, but it will likely come down to the Chiefs stopping Barkley and Hurts or the Eagles stopping Mahomes.
And that is leaning toward the Chiefs, but not by much.
