The Kansas City Chiefs‘ history quest meets the Philadelphia Eagles‘ revenge tour in Super Bowl LIX.
The Chiefs, led by the top coach-quarterback combo in the league in Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, are looking to become the first NFL team to pull off the three-peat. But they haven’t felt like a juggernaut for the entire season — their plus-59 point differential during the regular season would be the fifth-lowest by a Super Bowl champion should they pull out the win. However, they went 12-0 in one-score games and are coming off their best offensive performance of the year after scoring 32 points to take down the Buffalo Bills in the AFC title game.
That set up a Super Bowl rematch with the Eagles, who rode a season for the ages by running back Saquon Barkley and a dominant defense to a 14-3 regular-season record.
Philadelphia has been fueled not just by arguably the best roster in football but by bitter endings to the last two seasons. After a heartbreaking 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles stumbled down the stretch and lost six of seven last year, leading to the ouster of both coordinators and questions about coach Nick Sirianni’s job status.
“You carry those two chips on your shoulder,” said left tackle Jordan Mailata, “and make sure that s— doesn’t happen again.”
Mahomes (3 passing TDs) and Jalen Hurts (4 total TDs) were both at their playmaking best in the first matchup. This marks the fourth instance of a quarterback rematch in the Super Bowl. Each of the previous three were won by the QB who came out on top in the first game.
Can Hurts and the Eagles flip the script? Here’s a closer look at Eagles-Chiefs, Round 2:
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Boomer, Booger preview Chiefs vs. Eagles in Super Bowl LIX
Chris Berman and Booger McFarland look at how the Chiefs and Eagles match up ahead of their showdown in the Super Bowl.
What’s different about the Eagles since they lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago? What do they do better / worse?
The addition of Barkley has been massive. Pick any number of his house calls to see just how much of a game-altering threat he has been in his first season in Philadelphia. He has seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards this season, the most in NFL history.
The Eagles’ primary back in ’22 was Barkley’s backfield partner at Penn State, Miles Sanders, who ran for almost 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns that year to make the Pro Bowl. But what Barkley has done has been transformational for this offense. He needs only 30 yards to pass Terrell Davis for most rushing yards in a season, including playoffs.
Sacks were the bread and butter of the ’22 Eagles defense: they had 70 of them, the third-most all-time. Haason Reddick and Co., though, were neutralized by the Chiefs offensive line and the famously slick field at State Farm Stadium in Super Bowl LVII. This year’s group, led by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, is not as prolific rushing the passer (41 sacks) but has impact players at all three levels, including defensive tackle Jalen Carter, All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun and rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. It’s a disciplined, physical group that has a penchant for generating turnovers. — Tim McManus
Should the Eagles be worried about Landon Dickerson’s injury and their interior OL?
The injury statuses of Dickerson (knee) and center Cam Jurgens (back) will be worth watching closely in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
Jurgens did not start in the NFC Championship against the Washington Commanders but was called into action when his replacement, Dickerson, was sidelined for the second half.
Jurgens looked stiff as he made his way off the field to the locker room after the game Sunday but indicated he’d be good to play against the Chiefs. Dickerson, normally the team’s left guard, did not provide an update but has routinely played through injury during his time in Philly.
The Eagles have one of the best assistants in football in offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who has a well-established record of getting the most out of his players and having the backups ready to play. The o-line performed well against Washington with Tyler Steen filling in at left guard and Dickerson and Jurgens splitting time at center.
Now they will have to deal with one of the best defensive tackles in the game in Chris Jones. He’ll test the stability of that interior offensive line. — McManus
Which player is most likely to be responsible for covering Travis Kelce, and what could be the Eagles’ plan there?
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will have answers to disrupt the release for Kelce and match/carry inside vertically when the Eagles play their zone coverage concepts. Philly will account for him on every snap.
In true man coverage situations — especially on third down — I could see Fangio using rookie slot corner DeJean as the matchup for Kelce. DeJean has the strength to challenge Kelce through the release, along with the short-area speed to close on the throw. Plus, DeJean’s instincts can put him in a position to undercut the break and make a play on the ball. He is still looking for his first career interception, but he has broken up eight passes this season, including the playoffs. — Matt Bowen
What do the Eagles need from receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to complement the run game?
They’ll need the kind of efficiency out of the pass game they received in the NFC Championship when Hurts went 20 of 28 for 246 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 110.1. It marked just the second time since mid-November that Hurts threw for 200-plus yards.
Questions persisted about the aerial attack for much of the season. The production did not match the kind of expectations that come with players like Brown, Smith, Hurts and tight end Dallas Goedert on the roster. But much of it was by design, as the coaching staff — armed with a dominant defense and ground game — leaned conservative with the pass to keep turnovers at a minimum. That approach has worked quite well: the Eagles have 10 takeaways to zero giveaways in the playoffs.
Hurts quipped after the NFC title game that Sirianni “let me out of my straitjacket a little bit,” allowing him to air it out to Brown and Smith more than usual. Sirianni should go into this matchup confident about Hurts given that his QB had one of the best performances of his career at Super Bowl LVII (374 total yards, 4 touchdowns) against Kansas City. Smith (7 catches, 100 yards) and Brown (6 catches, 96 yards, TD) were a big part of that.
They’ll likely be called on again given that the Chiefs are sure to be focused on slowing Barkley. — McManus
How could the Eagles try to stop Mahomes, and will it be different from two years ago?
The lament from Eagles fans following the Super Bowl LVII loss was because of the static looks offered by then-defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. On passing downs, the Eagles largely rushed four and dropped seven into coverage, and while they tried to mix up their looks between man and zone, they failed to get the drop on Mahomes. The star quarterback rarely had to hold the ball for extended periods, either finding his first option available downfield or quickly working to an easily accessible checkdown. In all, 37% of Mahomes’ pass attempts in that game went into wide open windows by NFL Next Gen Stats’ charting — the most of any game that season.
With Fangio in the building and two weeks to prepare, it’s easy to predict that the Eagles’ defense will be more versatile this time around. Plus, with Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean in the secondary, the windows should be tighter, too. The Eagles are still largely a rush-four, drop-seven team with Fangio at the helm, so a repeat of 2023’s performance — when Mahomes knew what to expect and how to beat it far too often — is possible. — Ben Solak
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Orlovsky applauds Stephen A.’s take on the Eagles
Dan Orlvosky likes Stephen A. Smith giving a shout-out to the Eagles’ offensive line when discussing Saquon Barkley’s dominance vs. the Commanders.
What are you hearing about Kellen Moore’s chances to land the Saints’ head-coach job after the Super Bowl?
A lot of people I talk to seem to believe Moore is the leading candidate for the Saints’ job. Because they did a virtual interview with him prior to the divisional round, the Saints were able to interview the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in person this week. The deadline for that interview would have been Sunday; after Feb. 2, coaches whose teams are playing in the Super Bowl are prohibited from talking to other teams about jobs until the day after the Super Bowl (Feb. 10).
Yes, there could still be other candidates. But the Saints flew to Philadelphia to interview Moore in person on Monday. Then on Tuesday came word that Kliff Kingsbury and Mike McCarthy were dropping their names from consideration. Unless the Saints do some more second interviews this week that aren’t currently on the schedule, Moore has to be considered the strong favorite in New Orleans. — Dan Graziano
Who concerns the Eagles’ defense beyond Mahomes and Kelce?
Coach Andy Reid for one. They saw his play-design prowess first-hand for 14 seasons when he was the head man in Philly, and got diced up by it pretty good in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs to end the ’22 campaign.
The defense goes into every game confident with Fangio at the helm. Mahomes, though, is 8-0 as a starter when opposing Fangio as a head coach or coordinator, including playoffs. Their last meeting came in last year’s AFC Wild Card game against the Dolphins, which the Chiefs won 26-7.
The Eagles have to respect the speed of receivers Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown and know all too well from their last Super Bowl matchup with the Chiefs that JuJu Smith-Schuster is a crafty wideout capable of making backbreaking plays in critical moments. He had seven catches for 53 yards in that game, and drew a holding call on cornerback James Bradberry in the closing moments that helped seal the win for Kansas City.
The Eagles have been stout against the run this season — they ranked 5th in that department during the regular season (105.7 yards per game) — and will have to continue to be sure tacklers against rugged backs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. — McManus