Super Bowl 59 is almost here! It will soon be time for the talking to stop and for the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs to take to the field at the Superdome in New Orleans.
There are questions to be answered when the big game kicks off on Sunday night…
Can the Chiefs make history?
The most obvious question heading into Super Bowl 59 is whether the Chiefs will cement their legacy and place in NFL history. Kansas City are looking to become the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row; there have been three NFL titles won in a row before, twice by the Green Bay Packers and most recently between 1965 and 1967, but these Chiefs are looking to become the first to do it in the Super Bowl era.
Patrick Mahomes is looking to win a fourth and would be the first quarterback to do that before the age of 30, while Andy Reid is going for four having already surpassed 300 career wins. They are looking to become the third quarterback-head coach duo to win at least four Super Bowls together, and they are joining greats if they do it in Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll.
But, and it’s a big but, they face the toughest team they have seen all year in the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that is bang in form having won 15 of their last 16, and it could just be the toughest team the Chiefs have ever faced in a Super Bowl. And that is saying something, because they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season. History beckons, but there is a huge obstacle standing in the way of these Chiefs.
Does defense still win championships?
Will Philadelphia’s No 1 defense be up to the task? Mahomes is showing the No 1 defense in total yards and passing. He has faced the league’s No 1 pass defense three times in the playoffs before and won all three games, including two Super Bowls against the 49ers and the Eagles two years ago.
This Philadelphia defense has playmakers on all three levels. They get after the quarterback up front – led by Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith – they have got a playmaking All Pro linebacker in Zack Baun and one of the best young secondaries featuring Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. This is a huge battle. Will it be won by Kansas City’s offense, which saw Mahomes hit and sacked the most times of his career this season, or will it be won by Philadelphia’s No 1 defense?
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As the countdown continues to Sunday’s showdown, we take a look back at the Philadelphia Eagles’ journey to Super Bowl LIX
What role will Kelce play?
Will 35-year-old tight end Travis Kelce be a factor in this Super Bowl? He is one of the very best tight ends of all time, he has the most playoff catches in NFL history with 174 and with three catches will pass Jerry Rice for most receptions in Super Bowl history.
He is coming off a regular season where he averaged 8.5 yards per catch, but then in the Divisional Round exploded with eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown so there was hope and promise, before having just two catches for 19 yards in the AFC Championship Game.
But I think he will show up in the big moments for Mahomes. I don’t think Kelce, or the lack of production from Kelce, will be the reason the Chiefs lose this game but it could be the reason they win their fourth Super Bowl together.
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A look at the best plays where Patrick Mahomes has combined with Travis Kelce from the 2024 NFL season
Will Saquon lead Philly to glory?
Can Kansas City stop Saquon Barkley? Nobody has been able to do so this season and he stands 30 yards away from having the most prolific single season for a running back in NFL history, including the playoffs. It’s been quite some time since a running back won the MVP award, Barkley didn’t win it but he was firmly in the conversation for starring in an Eagles attack that averages close to 180 rushing yards per game. They scored seven rushing touchdowns in the NFC Championship Game.
Barkley is the main man and everybody knows it, and still he cannot be stopped, and that’s where true greatness comes from.
He has had 14 games this year where he has rushed for more than 100 yards and I think he can break this game wide open with another of those trademark long runs. He scored seven touchdowns of runs of 60-or-more yards this year, which is an NFL record. The first of those came on a 65-yarder in the Superdome against New Orleans in Week Three; that could be some kind of omen. Saquon could very well be celebrating on his 28th birthday on Sunday.
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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley’s best plays from the 2024 NFL season, which saw him rush over 2,000 yards with a game to spare
Who will be Super Bowl champions?
The Eagles are out for revenge having lost by three points on a last-minute field goal to Harrison Butker two years ago and they are a vastly-improved team in my opinion. This will go down to the wire and be really intense. It is because these Eagles are a top team, a really dangerous team. But close games go down to the wire, that’s where the Chiefs thrive and where they have lived all season – they have won 12 games by a single score this year.
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Andy Reid says Mahomes is one of the best ever to play the quarterback position and says the Chiefs can’t think about the chance of getting the ‘three-peat’ and must focus on the Eagles
In each of their last 17 games that have gone down to being decided by one score, they have won all 17. Reid told me this week that he expects his team to play all four quarters, that he expects them to come out on the right side of it. I think it will be close, I think the Chiefs have a historic feel about them, they just are inevitable, as I said at the start of the playoffs, so I think Kansas City win 27-24.
The Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday February 9, live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm ahead of kick-off at 11.30pm; Kendrick Lamar headlines the half-time show with Tom Brady on commentary