On Feb. 12, the Philadelphia Eagles will be looking to win their second Super Bowl title in franchise history. In their way stands the Kansas City Chiefs, the AFC’s representative in Super Bowl LVII.
The No.1 seeds from both the AFC and NFC will meet at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in the 57th edition of the Super Bowl.
The Birds have coasted to the Super Bowl, outscoring their playoff opponents by a combined score of 69-14. In those games, the Eagles have forced four turnovers, while not turning the ball over themselves once.
Any team will be tough to beat when they’re allowing just a touchdown a game and forcing two turnovers per game, but it is also worth mentioning that Philadelphia benefited from a dire quarterback situation for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. In Glendale, the Eagles will fittingly face their toughest challenge yet in the form of the Kansas City offense.
The Chiefs have the best quarterback and tight end duo in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have been an unstoppable duo since Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018. Both Mahomes and Kelce have been dealing with injuries throughout the playoffs, but did not seem affected last week.
Mahomes, dealing with an ankle sprain, threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City’s 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship. Kelce, who was a gametime decision in that game due to a back injury, caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.
The duo will have had an extra week of rest for the Super Bowl, and will attempt to win their second championship in only four years.
Philadelphia’s rushing attack has led the way for them so far this postseason. As a team, the Birds posted 268 rushing yards against the New York Giants in the Divisional Round, and 148 rushing yards against the 49ers.
The Chiefs were the eighth best rushing defense in the NFL during the regular season, and allowed 144 and 71 yards to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Bengals respectively.
That being said, the Eagles might need more production from their passing attack than they have gotten so far this postseason.
Jalen Hurts has not needed to do much in either playoff game, and as a result, his numbers are underwhelming, but efficient. The former Oklahoma Sooner has completed 63.2% of his passes, thrown for 275 yards and three touchdowns in the postseason without turning the ball over.
It is likely that in order to beat the Chiefs and raise the Lombardi Trophy, the Eagles will need to go stride for stride with them through the air, which they have proven they are capable of doing.
The last time that both No. 1 seeds went the distance was in Super Bowl LII, when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history. A history that has a chance to repeat itself Feb. 12, but it will likely take an MVP caliber effort from Hurts, a season-long MVP favorite himself, to beat his biggest challenger for the award in Mahomes.
The two sides are just about evenly matched, and Super Bowl LVII should be an entertaining one that can go either way.
