By Donovan Gibbs, Assistant Sports Editor
After 284 games of wild comebacks, highlight plays and record-breaking performances. Football fans alike are exactly one week away from game 285, Super Bowl LIX. The big game hosted in the “Big Easy” of New Orleans, LA will consist of two teams whose journey up this point was far from easy. The two teams left standing are the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of the AFC after another nail biting 32-29 victory against the Buffalo Bills in Arrowhead, and the Philadelphia Eagles, winners of the NFC after their dominating 55-23 victory against divisional foe Washington Commanders.

Head Coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs have their eyes set to separate this current NFL dynasty from the Patriots of the 2000’s and win their third consecutive Super Bowl, making the Chiefs the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three in a row. While the Eagles, led by All-Pro running back Saquon Barkley, are ready to shock the world and get revenge for their 38-35 Super Bowl LVII loss to Kansas City. This is the second matchup in three years between both franchises in the big game.
Kansas City, led by 3x Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, have been battle tested all season even if the 15-2 record doesn’t show otherwise. Winning 17 straight one score games (including playoffs), a NFL record. This includes victories such as the 19-17 week 14 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, in which the Chiefs clinched the AFC West division title for the 9th year in a row on a last second game winning field goal that luckily bounced off the left upright and went through. They have also faced countless injuries throughout the season with key players: running back Isiah Pacheco, wide receiver Rashee Rice, kicker Harrison Butker and defensive end Charles Omenihu missing significant time throughout the season. Even with the devastating injuries on both sides of the ball, the Chiefs were able to stay afloat, having the 17th-ranked offense and the 9th-ranked defense this year.
Kansas City’s defense, coached by the great defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo, has been the backbone of the Chiefs success this season. They are led by team sack leader, defensive end George Karlaftis, making his presence known in the backfield this season with 8 sacks and adding three more sacks this postseason, being this team’s most consistent pass rusher. Linebacker Nick Bolton led the team in tackles with 106. A young secondary unit led by safety Justin Reid and All-Pro cornerback Trent Mcduffie has held opposing teams to a 9th-best 218 passing yards a game during the regular season and 207 yards passing per game this postseason.
Patrick Mahomes and superstar tight end Travis Kelce had an unexpecting off year in terms of production; with Mahomes not throwing for 4,000 yards in the regular season for the first time since his rookie season back in 2017 and Kelce having the lowest receiving yard and touchdown season of his career with 823 yards and 3 touchdowns (TD) on the season. The dynamic duo was still able to make history. Kelce reached 3rd all-time in career receiver yards for a tight end, amassing 12,151 yards in his career. The 34-year-old tight end has also turned back the clock this postseason, with his 7 receptions for 117 yards and 1 TD performance in the divisional round 23-14 victory against the Houston Texans. Kelce was able to reach a receiving plateau of no other, breaking the tie with Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Jerry Rice for the most 100-yard receiving games in the postseason with 9 in his career. He also surpassed 2,000 career postseason receiving yards, with Rice being the only other receiver in NFL history to accomplish this feat.
The Philadelphia Eagles came into the season looking to go all in after their disappointing end to the 2023 season when General Manager Howie Roseman was able to sign dejected star running back Saquon Barkley to a 3-year, $37 million deal this offseason. Barkley, the 227-year-old running back, became a free agent after contract extension talks with divisional rival New York Giants fell short. This wouldn’t be the only major move made by Philadelphia this offseason, as the Eagles were able to sign linebacker Zach Baun and safety CJ Gardner-Johnson while drafting cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper Dejean with the 1st and 2nd round picks in the 2024 NFL draft.
It’s fair to say that all these moves worked successfully with Barkley becoming the league-leading rusher with 2,005 regular-season rushing yards on a career-best 5.8 yards per carry, which is also an Eagles record for a running back with at least 100 carries. He was a vital component of the Eagles running game that ranked second in the league (179.3 rushing yards per game) in his debut season. Barkley’s play elevated during the playoff with 442 yards on 6.7 yards per carry and 5 rushing touchdowns, three of the five touchdowns being runs of 60+ yards.
Zach Baun, who was mainly a special team player during his tenure as a New Orleans Saints, had a breakout season with 151 tackles, 3.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, four passes defended, and one interception. The 5th year linebacker was named a Pro Bowler, a 1st-team All-Pro, and a finalist for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
Rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper Dejean took the league by storm. Mitchell, the 22nd overall pick from Toledo, got his first start in the season opener against the Packers in São Paulo and started every game this season. Throughout the season, Mitchell solidified himself as one of the best corners in the NFL, being targeted just 13.2% of snaps when in man coverage this season, per NextGen Stats, the lowest for a rookie corner in the last five years. Dejean, the 40th overall draft pick by the Eagles, didn’t see time on the field until week 5 but since then he hasn’t left the starting lineup. The slot corner this season allowed a league-low 4.8 yards per target among slot defenders with at least 200 coverage snaps this season, per NextGen Stats. All the offseason additions were crucial reasons why Vic Fangio Eagles’ had the NFL’s best defense this year.
Besides Barkley, the Eagles were dominant in all aspects this season. Their offensive line finished the year as Pro Football Focus’s best offensive unit for the 3rd straight season in Cam Jurgens’s first NFL season as a center. Wide Receiver AJ Brown recorded his third straight 1,000-yard season in Philadelphia and quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 2,900 yards with 18 TDs and 5 interceptions. Hurts had a lot of injury concerns at the end of the season, suffering a concussion in week 16 and then a knee injury that required him to wear a brace in the divisional round against the Rams. All those criticisms and worries were subsequently silenced after completing 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and one TD, also contributing 3 TDs on the ground in the NFC Championship game.
On February 9, no matter who wins, history will be made. Patrick Mahomes could become the first quarterback to ever three-peat during the Super Bowl era while Saquon Barkley could be the first 2000-yard rusher to win it all since Hall of Famer Terell Davis in 1998. With both teams being evenly matched, fans alike have made their reasons heard on why either team has a better chance of winning.
Junior business major Omari Lewis lays out the keys to victory for the Eagles.
“The Eagles need to play like they did in the NFC Championship game in order to beat the Chiefs. Keep feeding Saquon and let Jalen Carter cause havoc in the backfield is what has to happen to win the Super Bowl,” said Lewis.
Junior Criminal Justice major Jaiden Dozier is a Kansas native, and his take on the big game comes as no surprise.
“Patrick is going to have a big game like always and the Chiefs defense can easily contain Saquon. The game is going to be close but I know at the end that KC will be holding up the Lombardi,” said Dozier.
Super Bowl LIX will kick off on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. on FOX.
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