The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will square off in the Super Bowl on February 9 at 6:30 p.m. ET. In 2023, Patrick Mahomes and company won the Lombardi Trophy with a 38-35 victory in this rematch.
There is still a lot of interest in this game even though it features familiar opponents.
As Super Bowl week approaches, NBC News and NBC Sports teamed up to preview some of the most important subjects.
The biggest thing we learned from the conference title games were …
Greif: Saquon Barkley is not the only offensive component of the Eagles’ offense. After passing for less than 130 yards on average in Philadelphia’s first two postseason wins and appearing reluctant to take chances with his passes, quarterback Jalen Hurts came under fire. However, he gave Philadelphia’s offense a new lease on life when he found A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith for 246 passing yards against Washington.
Additionally, Kansas City demonstrated in the AFC championship that it is capable of stopping the quarterback sneak, which has gained popularity in recent seasons, as well as the short-yardage play that Philadelphia and Hurts have made practically invincible. In the Super Bowl, there will undoubtedly be more tush push.
Gravity is still applicable, Daugherty said. Barkley cannot be stopped by anyone, and Mahomes is still sufficient on his own. It sets up the traditional Super Bowl clash between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. There must be a compromise. Either the Eagles never make the big run and leave Hurts overexposed against a strong defense, or the Chiefs’ one-man band on offense ultimately crumbles under the weight of its lack of explosiveness. Perfect narrative symmetry is the rule in this game.
Nadkarni: The Chiefs have the potential to remain the Chiefs! This season, there was a lot of discussion about how Kansas City had lost its offensive prowess from the early Mahomes dynasty. However, when the Chiefs needed to score more than thirty points against the Bills, they did just that!
It served as a reminder that the Chiefs can win in a variety of ways, even though it wasn’t quite the offensive flurry from Kansas City’s heyday. Struggle on the defensive? That’s what they did all season. Is it still possible for Mahomes to compete with another elite quarterback? Indeed! Therefore, even if Kansas City’s offensive has been stagnant over the past two years, it appears that the Chiefs can step up when necessary.
Is this a Super Bowl matchup you re excited to see?
Greif: Would I have been interested in seeing Lamar Jackson of Baltimore make his Super Bowl debut? Indeed, it was most likely my first choice this season. And it would have been fantastic to see to see whether Josh Allen could end generations of Buffalonian Super Bowl suffering. However, this Super Bowl rematch excites me because it will be a fierce game regardless of who has the ball.
How will Andy Reid’s offense, which manages to win behind Mahomes despite only managing to score 32 points at most all season, be attacked by Vic Fangio’s defense, which is among the best in the NFL? Speaking of offensive players whose problems are yet unresolved: Barkley has the opportunity to write what may be the best running back season in league history as the newest member of the league’s nine-man, 2,000-yard club. He is within 30 yards away from surpassing Terrell Davis’s record for the most rushing yards in the regular season, postseason, and all three. Chris Jones, the defensive anchor for the Chiefs, will address that.
Daugherty: Certainly. The Chiefs themselves are a plot point. They are attempting to achieve a feat that has never been achieved before: winning three straight Super Bowls. However, they have not only a deserving opponent, but also one with a history with them dating back to their 2023 title challenge.
The Chiefs haven’t felt invincible in a long time, making them one of the weirdest dynasties in modern history. Simply put, they are unbeatable. Big Dom can accomplish this for the Eagles, who have interesting people everywhere you look, even their main security adviser. Either NFL history will be made, or the weak giant will finally be slain. What’s not to like?
Nadkarni: I understand the Chiefs’ exhaustion, but the Eagles’ participation in this game really irritates me more. It would have been amazing if the Lions had advanced to the Super Bowl. Nevertheless, this is still a fantastic battle.
It’s not a game between two quarterbacks who got hot at the same time; these are two of the top teams from the regular season with stacked rosters. Both sides of the field will have a number of stars. One problem with the league’s playoff system—and, in fact, with NFL games generally—is that, let’s say, the sport’s randomness occasionally results in lower-tier teams making it to the Super Bowl. That is not what this is. Let’s be grateful that two genuinely outstanding teams will be playing each other.
Would a Super Bowl win make Mahomes the greatest quarterback of all time?
GreifIn that case, the debate over the greatest of all time may boil down to personal taste. As he consistently drove opponents and Father Time away, would it be more spectacular to win six Super Bowls over a 17-year span like Tom Brady did? Or do you think that Mahomes’ four championships in his first seven seasons as a starter—all before reaching 30—are more difficult to understand? Because of the size of his particular ring display, I lean Brady for the time being.
Daugherty: Not just yet. Mahomes’ Sandy Koufax phase is still going strong. Most likely, none of us have ever witnessed a greater peak than this one. Brady, however, played the long game better than anybody else in sports history—not just NFL history—in addition to having several peaks. He practically never had a valley and had multiple peaks.
Despite his lack of longevity, I believe Mahomes will have a good chance to overtake Peyton Manning and Joe Montana on the all-time scoreboard, but Tom is still comfortably above for the time being.
NadkarniA victory doesn’t, in my opinion, make Mahomes the greatest of all time. He needs at least one more championship, in my opinion, to have a strong enough case to overtake Brady. Seven rings are seven rings. (And Brady used two squads to do it!)
But I’ll be dishonest and admit that, whether or not he wins another Super Bowl, I do believe Mahomes is the best quarterback of all time. As far as I can tell, no one has been this proficient in every facet of quarterbacking. Mahomes is certainly closing in on Brady, and it s pretty wild how soon after Brady s career there s already someone legitimately threatening his GOAT claim.
Are the Chiefs making the NFL boring?
Greif: Had Kansas City advanced to its fifth Super Bowl in six seasons by winning blowouts and bringing back largely the same roster, that success would indeed be boring. Yet the Chiefs each week are the most entertaining show in football, often putting themselves in a straitjacket of their own making as we ask ourselves, “Is this the week the champions finally will fail to wriggle free?”
Their average margin of victory is just 3.7 points, which ranks 11th in the league, yet they have won 17 of their 19 games, including the postseason, and 17 consecutive one-score games. And they have done so despite roster turnover, particularly at wide receiver and running back, that has led to multiple iterations of the Chiefs during this historic run.
DaughertyQuite the opposite. When was the last time you saw people this fired up about a team that wasn t their own? The Chiefs and Mahomes have filled the Patriots/Brady center of gravity in two ways: In addition to being the team “everyone” is sick of winning, it s … not actually everyone.
Mahomes greatness is the kind many like to front-run. There s a dynamic where Mahomes not only creates scrappy underdogs wherever he goes, but also draws in fans who want to see Michael Jordan- or Tiger Woods-level athletic achievement. Brady, for a variety of reasons, never quite got the same love. With Mahomes greatness, we get to have it both ways any time the Chiefs take the field: Either we are about to witness a living legend, or the wicked witch finally loses.
Nadkarni:No! First off, it s fun watching teams try to take them down. The next time Mahomes loses in the playoffs will be an incredibly memorable moment.
Don’t you all remember how fun it was to watch their offense when this all started? And this isn t like the NBA in which a bunch of stars joined forces on one team (cough, 2017 Golden State Warriors, cough) and won a ring together. The Chiefs aren t doing this as a result of some sort of fluke. There s nothing stopping NFL teams from catching up to them. This is fair and square competition, and I enjoy watching the greatness as much as I enjoy watching others trying to end it.