Super Bowl LIX has arrived!
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles are squaring off for the second time in the last three Super Bowls. The Chiefs are chasing the NFL's first Super Bowl three-peat, which is a reason to watch in itself, but the Eagles can't be overlooked. The stakes are high, the rosters are different, and the matchups couldn't be better.
Below is a look at reasons to watch this year's penultimate event, with insights from NFL Research. Tune in to watch on your mobile devices with NFL+. Learn more about NFL+ here.
- WHERE: Caesars Superdome (New Orleans)
- WHEN: 6:30 p.m. ET | FOX, Tubi, FOX Deportes, Telemundo
Super Bowl LVII recap:
Let’s quickly recap what we saw in the last Super Bowl matchup with these teams. Jalen Hurts ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth while compiling 372 all-purpose yards. Patrick Mahomes tossed three touchdowns, and with the help of Isiah Pacheco and Nick Bolton, the Chiefs found the end zone twice more. Harrison Butker ended up being the difference-maker with a field goal as time expired.
NFL Research: What’s at stake:
With a win this year, the Chiefs would make history the same way they started their current title run -- beating the Eagles. They are the first team to return to the Super Bowl as two-time reigning champions and a win here would make them the first team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Saquon Barkley is also in line to make history. His 2,448 rushing yards (including postseason) is unbelievable as it is. But with 30 more yards, he could tally the most rushing yards in a single season, including playoffs, in NFL history. This is also his and fellow veteran DeAndre Hopkins' first Super Bowl appearances.
NFL Research: Notable roster changes:
Don’t let the rematch aspect of this game fool you -- these are not the same teams that played in 2023. America will watch an Eagles team that’s reimagined its roster since its last Super Bowl appearance. While the core remains largely the same, Philadelphia has rebuilt a large portion of its roster. Thirty-five players have joined the Birds since that fateful game on Feb. 12, 2023, including Barkley, the league’s leading rusher and Philly’s X-factor. Barkley is joined by young defensive talent such as Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, who have each made an immediate impact in their short time with Philly.
Despite Kansas City’s unchanging ability to win big games, the Chiefs' roster has also seen many changes since their Super Bowl LVII win. They’ve acquired 32 players, including their three notable wide receivers -- Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
This will be the second time in Super Bowl history that three rookies selected in the top 40 of the draft will start in the same Super Bowl -- Worthy (No. 28), Mitchell (No. 22) and DeJean (No. 40).
NFL Research: Big matchups:
The Eagles lead the NFL with 3,731 rushing yards in 2024 (including playoffs), the most by any team in a single season in NFL history, including playoffs. Barkley made up 65.6% of that on his own. Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs' mastermind defensive coordinator, has faced the NFL’s leading rusher twice in the playoffs as Kansas City's DC and is 2-0 in those games, holding said rusher to 74.5 rushing yards per game. In 2024, the Chiefs faced four players who finished in the top 10 in rushing yards per game, and they allowed just 3.8 yards per carry to opposing running backs (second-fewest in the NFL).
The other big matchup to pay attention to will be Mahomes’ passing offense against the Eagles’ top-ranked passing defense. Historically, Mahomes has won the battle. He is 3-0 in his career in the playoffs versus teams with the No. 1-ranked pass defense in the regular season. If that weren’t enough, he is 8-0 in his career against Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
