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State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
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Sunday 12th of February
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Coverage starts from 11:30pm
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ITV1
Kansas City Chiefs: Road to Super Bowl LVII
According to the NFL Top 100, Tyreek Hill was the 15th best player in 2022. When he was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a haul of picks before the season, many predicted the Chiefs to struggle more than ever in a highly competitive AFC West. The Broncos, Raiders and Chargers all underperformed as the Chiefs breezed through their season to a 14-3 record.
Taking it back all the way to the 2022 Draft, the Chiefs added some excellent pieces to their lineup. They traded into the first round to take cornerback Trent McDuffie, having lost Charvarius Ward in free agency, before picking George Karlaftis with their own pick at the back end of the first. They’ve added key pieces to their whole defence with 4 rookies lining up in their secondary for the AFC Championship, all adding key contributions. Chiefs rookies played the highest snap count of any team in the league. Isiah Pacheco was taken in the back end of the seventh round and has arguably been the stand out rookie for the Chiefs and definitely the most talked about. A powerful running back, Pacheco has grown into his own and became the RB1 on this roster.
KC kicked off the season with a dominant 44-21 win over the Cardinals and also posted 40+ points against the Bucs and the number 1 defence 49ers before heading into the bye week at 5-2. Narrow losses to the Bills and surprisingly, the Colts overshadowed an impressive start to the season. Out of the bye, the Chiefs have gone 9-1 with some worrying narrow victories and dominant wins over Seattle, Vegas and Jacksonville. Their one loss came to the Cincinnati Bengals led by Joe Burrow, who recorded their third straight win over the Chiefs. Despite this, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 14-3 record, going 6-0 in the AFC West and wrapping up the number 1 seed for the play-offs.
After earning the bye, the Chiefs faced the 4 seed Jaguars in the Divisional round in a game dominated by Kelce, Pacheco and a Mahomes injury. All-Pro tight end Kelce is the number one at his position and he took charge of this game with two receiving touchdowns on 14 receptions. A fairly comfortable 27-20 win was masked by the injury to Mahomes. The highest paid player suffered a high ankle sprain and was clearly limping throughout the game. Not the best news for KC with the Bengals around the corner in the AFC Championship.
However, this was finally the game when Mahomes and the Chiefs got over the Bengals curse. There was a lot of “trash-talk” in the build-up to the game with Bengals players labelling Arrowhead as “Burrowhead”. However, they never led the game with the Chiefs starting fast defensively. Rookies Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams both picked off Burrow with a Pass Break Up from Bryan Cook leading to one of the picks. Kicker, Harrison Butker, drilled a 45 yard field goal to close out the game, a 23-20 win and a ticket to the Super Bowl.
So what can we expect from the Chiefs in the Super Bowl? Be sure to look out for the Mahomes and Kelce connection on offence which has led to so much success over the past 5 years with 5 AFC Championship appearances. Pacheco will be an option in the run game, particularly with a weak Eagles rush defence. Defensively, it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs rookies handle all the Eagles weapons but this is the best defence that KC has had for a while.
Philadelphia Eagles: Road to Super Bowl LVII
The Philadelphia Eagles were first round exits in last year’s play-offs, falling behind 31-0 at the Bucs in the Wild Card Round. In Nick Sirianni’s first year as Eagles Head Coach he had improved them from 4-11-1 to a 9-8 record. By Week 12 the Eagles had already beaten their win total as they were 10-1 before finishing 14-3, the two losses coming with backup Quarterback Gardner Minshew playing.
Building an incredible roster, the Eagles had an excellent free agency. Haason Reddick was signed for just $15m a year with 16 sacks in 17 games and a further 3.5 in the postseason, numbers that would usually earn someone upwards of $25m a year. Fletcher Cox was added on a one year deal to boost the defensive line alongside rookie DT Jordan Davis who was taken in the first round. James Bradberry was picked up off divisional rival New York Giants and played at a second team All-Pro level. It’s extremely difficult to discuss the Eagles offseason moves without mentioning trading for WR AJ Brown from the Titans. A trade that has reaped endless rewards with 1500 yards and 11 touchdowns.
All of these pieces came together instantly as the Eagles raced into their first ever 8-0 start in franchise history with only two wins by 7 or less points. A loss in week 10 to the Commanders was surprising, particularly when the Eagles turned the ball over 3 times to the Commanders. This was a mere scratch on the Eagles record as they went on to win their next 5 to a 13-1 record before MVP candidate QB Jalen Hurts suffered a shoulder injury. Despite a pair of defeats to Dallas and New Orleans, the Eagles scraped past the Giants’ backups to earn the first round bye.
After the Giants edged the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, many tipped the Giants to upset the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in the Divisional Round. Philly quickly put any doubts aside as they rushed to a 28-0 lead at half time. Rushed is probably the right word to use as they ran for 268 yards on 44 carries, dominating the Giants defence, something they have done to most sides this season. 3 of their 4 rushers found the endzone with lead back Miles Sanders adding a further 90 yards without a TD. Former Giant, James Bradberry also added a pick against his former side.
The two best teams in the NFC faced off in the Championship game as the 49ers travelled to Philadelphia. Again, the Eagles flew out the blocks with an opening drive touchdown run from Miles Sanders. The Niners started driving down the field before Haason Reddick forced a fumble from Brock Purdy, injuring his UCL which effectively ruled him out for the rest of the game as he couldn’t pass. When fourth string Josh Johnson suffered a concussion, the 49ers had no way to move the ball and the Eagles pounced. Three fumble recoveries in the game hid Jalen Hurts’ underwhelming performance as the Eagles breezed into the Super Bowl 31-7.
The Eagles have one of the best dynamic offences with multiple rushers and a dual threat QB. AJ Brown and Devonta Smith are one of the best 1-2 receivers duos in the league and their offensive line is the best in the league. That’s without talking about their defence which posted the 3rd highest sack total of all time. They are arguably the most complete roster in the league and should have a shot at stopping the Chiefs electric offence.
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