- WHERE: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
- WHEN: 6:30 p.m. ET | FOX, Tubi, FOX Deportes, Telemundo, NFL+
The Chiefs are going for history. The Eagles, meanwhile, have redemption in mind.
Super Bowl LIX is a rematch of the championship classic from two years ago, won by the Chiefs with a brilliant second half comeback. That kicked off the first of back-to-back titles for the team, and Kansas City will attempt Sunday to do what no team has ever done: Win a third straight Super Bowl.
The Eagles have been in the postseason every year under head coach Nick Sirianni, but they haven’t yet been able to reach the championship peak of his predecessor, Doug Pederson. Winning Sunday -- and stopping the Chiefs’ bid for history -- would usher the Eagles into a new generation of success.
But that’s easier said than done. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid are the nucleus of a modern dynasty that could one day soon challenge the laurels of the Patriots’ two-decade run of success. Close contests notwithstanding, the Chiefs have lost one game all season in which they played their starters -- by nine points at Buffalo almost three months ago.
Can Saquon Barkley keep up his magical season? Or will Jalen Hurts reprise his Super Bowl brilliance from two years ago? It might take some Philly fireworks in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome on Sunday night to keep Mahomes and his highly successful friends from celebrating under falling confetti again.
Here are four things to watch for when the Chiefs meet the Eagles:
1. Stopping Saquon is no easy task
In his transformative first season with the Eagles, Saquon Barkley has failed to gain 111 yards from scrimmage exactly three times, playoffs included. He has reshaped the identity of the Eagles’ offense to become more of a ground-based attack and is arguably the Chiefs’ biggest concern on Sunday.
Kansas City had a top-10 rush defense during the regular season, but things have gone sideways since Christmas, when they allowed the Steelers to run for 202 yards. In their two playoff games, the Chiefs have allowed 148 rush yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry to the likes of Joe Mixon and James Cook.
This is Barkley’s first Super Bowl, but when the Eagles played in the Superdome back in Week 3, he rescued them with a 65-yard touchdown -- the first of his seven rushing scores of at least 60 yards this season (including playoffs, most all-time).
But even with the Chiefs’ backslide defending the run, they’ve allowed only one rush of longer than 33 yards since the regular season -- a 62-yard run by the Browns’ Jerome Ford, when the Chiefs were leading by 21 points. By and large, the Chiefs have been an excellent tackling defense, and they’re rarely caught wrong-footed or physically dominated up front.
Can Barkley break through a good Chiefs’ front? He’ll have the help of a fine Eagles offensive line that appears 100% healthy now after they had to rotate center in the NFC Championship Game. Barkley also has great finishing power, as the Saints game indicated; he averaged nearly two full yards more per rush in second halves (6.7 yards per carry) than he has in first halves (4.8).
It’s going to take a four-quarter effort by the Chiefs to stop Barkley. Only a handful of teams have even come close this season.
2. Mahomes-Kelce magic must be in peak form
The Chiefs were content to win a lot of close games this season where the offense did just enough and the defense and special teams did a lot of the heavy lifting. That has started to shift a bit as the season has wound to a close.
Patrick Mahomes took over against the Bills in the AFC title game, playing one of his most complete games of the season. He has started using his legs to get him loose as a runner and opening up more possibilities as a passer. Mahomes also has limited his turnovers significantly, fumbling last week for his first giveaway in a game since mid-November.
This clearly is a concern for Vic Fangio’s defense. It might be as good a unit as the Chiefs have faced all season, but it’s also a unit that has thrived on takeaways -- especially since about the midpoint of the regular season -- and sometimes has struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks
The Eagles have defended tight ends well, but it’s worth noting that Oren Burks (then with the 49ers) had trouble staying with Travis Kelce in last year’s Super Bowl. Burks now has taken over for injured LB Nakobe Dean and is coming off a strong showing in the NFC Championship Game, but he’ll have his hands full with the future Hall of Fame tight end -- and likely will need some help.
Kelce was held in check against the Bills, but his Super Bowl track record is impeccable, catching 31 passes for 350 yards and two scores in his four prior championship appearances. Where he’s most dangerous is finding and creating space when Mahomes goes into scramble mode. There are few better pairs in league history at creating improvisational advantages on the fly.
3. Hurts and Brown connection comes into focus
Two years ago, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown had the Eagles flying high in the first half of Super Bowl LVII, giving them a 10-point lead with three connections for 74 yards and a touchdown. Then the Chiefs adjusted, holding Brown in relative check the final 30 minutes of the game, finding a way to win.
The Hurts-Brown connection hasn’t been quite as potent this season, bottoming out in a frustrating outing in the win over the Rams in the Divisional Round. But they got back on the same page the following week against the Commanders and figure to at least provide some big-play splashes on Sunday.
How the Chiefs will cover Brown will be interesting. Then-rookie Trent McDuffie struggled to keep Brown under wraps early two years ago in the Super Bowl, forcing a shift in coverage plans. But now McDuffie is the big dog in the secondary and typically has handled the toughest assignments. He also shut down Deebo Samuel in last year’s Super Bowl.
The Chiefs are a heavy man-defense operation, pressing receivers at the highest rate in the NFL. Steve Spagnuolo also isn’t afraid to blitz, bringing extra pressure from multiple locations and tasking his DBs with sticky man coverage. The Eagles can counter that with quick slants to Brown, a route on which he is as good as any receiver in the league.
Hurts can also counteract this with his running ability. Perhaps even more so than the Eagles, the Chiefs have had issues containing mobile QBs this season. They were able to keep Josh Allen in check just enough in the AFC Championship Game but can’t let Hurts going early as a runner.
He’s improved versus the blitz somewhat, but Hurts still takes too many sacks. If the Eagles can stay ahead of the sticks with the running of Barkley and Hurts, this shouldn’t be a major issue -- plus the Eagles’ offensive line is a strong group. They also have fine pass-catching options elsewhere with WR DeVonta Smith and TE Dallas Goedert, but the Hurts-Brown connection is one that can make a good Eagles offense great when it’s humming.
4. How can Chiefs help Mahomes out?
The Chiefs have had to forge together a run game this season, with the early-season injury to Isiah Pacheco throwing a significant wrench into their plans. He’s since returned, but Kareem Hunt largely has been the first RB option, with Pacheco complementing him in a reserve role.
By and large the Eagles have defended the run well this season. The Ravens, Packers and Falcons did some damage against them on the ground, but those teams are built to operate that way. Kansas City is not.
The Chiefs were mostly a station-to-station passing offense this season. They had only four pass plays of 40-plus yards in the regular season, plus one more in the playoffs. Most teams will use two high safeties against Mahomes, won’t blitz him and will utilize plenty of zone defense, preventing big plays.
Expect more of the same Sunday from Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Philadelphia likely knows that a large percentage of their offense will come from Mahomes and Kelce, but also the sometimes forgotten other pieces: Xavier Worthy, DeAndre Hopkins, Hollywood Brown and others.
So how do the Chiefs aid their field position and give their offense a boost against a strong Eagles front seven led by Jalen Carter and Zack Baun? Clearly most of the onus will be on Mahomes doing his thing. But perhaps the hard-running Hunt-Pacheco duo at least can provide a change-up option and win their short-yardage battles.
Worthy also figures to be an X-factor. The Chiefs traditionally have put in some gadget plays and red-zone-specific calls for their best playmakers in past Super Bowls. It would be shocking if Andy Reid and Matt Nagy didn’t draw something up special for their speedy rookie.
There is also a hidden weapon in returner Nikko Remigio, who has given the Chiefs a boost down the stretch, especially in the playoffs. In two postseason games he has averaged 31 yards on kickoff returns and 26 yards on punt returns.