After 272 regular season games and another 13 playoff contests, the end of the NFL season has finally arrived with Super Bowl LIX, or Super Bowl 59 for those who’d rather not deal with Roman numerals.
It pits the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Philadelphia Eagles, with kickoff taking place from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. Kansas City won its first Super Bowl in New Orleans in 1970, which was Super Bowl IV; Philadelphia made its first Big Game appearance in The Big Easy in 1981 for Super Bowl XV.
The biggest storyline is undoubtedly the Chiefs’ quest to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. But before that history is potentially made, this matchup is already historic, considering the success of both teams this year. The Chiefs (15-2) and Eagles (14-3) combined for 29 regular season wins, and no Super Bowl matchup in NFL history has more combined victories.
This will be the two teams’ second Super Bowl meeting in three seasons, as Kansas City prevailed, 38-35, over Philly in Super Bowl 57. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts will be the fourth pair of quarterbacks to meet in multiple Super Bowls, and much to the delight of Chiefs Kingdom, the quarterback who won the first matchup has won all three previous rematches.
However, that wasn’t the last time these teams faced off, as they met in Week 11 of the 2023 season. The Eagles went on the road into Arrowhead Stadium and defeated Kansas City, 21-17, despite Kansas City coming off a bye and coach Andy Reid previously being 21-3 in his regular-season career off a bye. The two teams haven’t changed much since that contest, with the notable exception of Philly adding Saquon Barkley to its backfield.
Barkley has 2,447 rushing yards this regular plus postseason, meaning he needs just 30 yards on Super Bowl Sunday to surpass Terrell Davis (1998) for the most in a season in NFL history. With Barkley and the ground ability of Jalen Hurts, the running game is Philadelphia’s strength as it ranked second in both yards and touchdowns on the ground in the regular season, in addition to ranking fifth in yards per carry.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs bring the No. 8 run defense into this matchup but have a tendency to contain opposing backs. Kansas City has not allowed a running back to reach 100 yards all season, and they’ve also gone 18 straight postseason games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
Kansas City’s strength is its three-time Super Bowl MVP in Mahomes, who is looking to join Michael Jordan (six), Tom Brady (five), and LeBron James (four) as the only players in NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL history to win four championship game MVP awards. For as great as Mahomes has been during his regular season career, he takes things to another level in the postseason, even though the competition is tougher and the stakes are higher. His completion percentage, touchdown to interception ratio, and passer rating all increase in the postseason, and he has a flair for the dramatic, as all three of his Super Bowl victories have come with Kansas City trailing in the fourth quarter.
Kansas City’s passing offense, however, faces an Eagles defense that was a No Fly Zone during the regular season. Philadelphia allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL this year, had the lowest yards per attempt allowed, and forced the third-lowest passer rating. With that in mind, one shouldn’t be surprised if several Mahomes dropbacks end up with the quarterback scrambling, which he tends to do more in the playoffs than in the regular season. Mahomes has 172 rushing yards in his Super Bowl career, which ranks 11th all-time—among all players, not just quarterbacks.
Like many NFL games, this one could boil down to turnovers. Mahomes has thrown just one interception over his last nine postseason games, but the Eagles are contending for the Lombardi Trophy largely because of their knack for taking the ball away. They’ve forced 10 turnovers across their three-game playoff run and have 20 takeaways over their last six games, dating back to the regular season. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has not thrown an interception or lost a fumble in its last five games.
Kansas City has just one giveaway over its last nine games, so protecting the ball is a strength of both offensive units. The Chiefs haven’t generated turnovers on defense to the level of Philadelphia, as those 20 takeaways that Philly has over its last six games match the number of takeaways Kansas City has over the entire 2024 regular plus postseason. But one can’t forget that the first Super Bowl matchup between these two a couple of years ago essentially turned on a lost fumble by Hurts, which Kansas City scooped and scored on.
A Chiefs victory would move them into a distinguished class of five franchises with at least five Super Bowl championships, joining the Patriots (six), Steelers (six), Cowboys (five) and 49ers (five). An Eagles triumph would be their second in franchise history, to go along with their three NFL Championships won prior to the Super Bowl era. However, a defeat would also put them into a class of five in that they would join the Patriots (five), Broncos (five), Vikings (four), and Bills (four) as the only franchises with at least four Super Bowl losses.
Needless to say—as this is annually the most-watched television event in the country—there’s much at stake for both franchises. The 2025 Super Bowl will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be broadcast by FOX.
