SUPER BOWL LVII
PHILADELPHIA (16-3) VS KANSAS CITY (16-3) AT GLENDALE, ARIZONA
Sunday, 5:30 p.m., Fox
LINE: Eagles by 1 1/2.
SERIES RECORD: Chiefs lead 5-4.
LAST MEETING: Chiefs defeated the Eagles 42-30 on Oct. 3, 2021, in Philadelphia.
LAST GAME: Eagles defeated 49ers 31-7; Chiefs beat Bengals, 23-20
EAGLES PLAYERS TO WATCH
QB Jalen Hurts, 24, will try to become the fourth starting QB younger than 25 to win the Super Bowl. The Eagles went 16-1 when Hurts started, losing two games when he was sidelined by a injured shoulder late in the season. Hurts set an NFL record for QBs with 15 TD runs in the regular season and playoffs, while also ranking tied for first in the NFL this season with 11 TD passes on throws at least 20 yards downfield.
CHIEFS PLAYERS TO WATCH
TE Travis Kelce is healthy after playing through the aftermath of back spasms against Cincinnati in the AFC title game. He still had seven catches for 78 yards and a score. The Chiefs lost three wide receivers in that game to injuries, and while JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Kadarius Toney (ankle) will be available, Kelce is still the Chiefs’ best pass-catching option. He caught a career-best 110 passes for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. The only player with more playoff TD catches than Kelce’s 15 is Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
KEY MATCHUP
Eagles DE Haason Reddick vs. Chiefs RT Andrew Wylie. Reddick had 16 sacks in the regular season and 3 1/2 more so far in the playoffs as the dominant force on a strong defensive line for Philadelphia. He will mostly be matched up with Wylie, whose nine sacks allowed in the regular season were tied for fourth most in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
KEY INJURIES
Both teams are relatively healthy. Eagles CB Avonte Maddox (toe) returned in a limited role in the NFC title game and should be full go in the Super Bowl . ... Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed left the AFC championship game with a concussion but has cleared protocol and is set to play Sunday.
SERIES NOTES
The Chiefs have won all three meetings against the Eagles under Andy Reid, who also went 3-0 against Kansas City during his tenure as Philadelphia coach. ... Patrick Mahomes threw five TD passes with only six incomplete passes against the Eagles last season. Jalen Hurts threw for a career-high 387 yards that game for Philadelphia.
STATS AND STUFF
This marks the sixth time since the 1970 merger that the two teams with sole possession of the top two records in the regular season played in the Super Bowl. ... The Eagles are playing in their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history. They lost their first two trips and won it all in the 2017 season against New England . ... The Chiefs are playing in their third Super Bowl in four seasons. They beat the 49ers in 2020 before losing to the Buccaneers the following year. Kansas City also won the 1970 Super Bowl . ... Philadelphia will become the fifth franchise to reach the Super Bowl under at least four coaches . ... The Eagles became the fifth team to win their divisional round and conference championship games by at least 20 points. The other four teams all followed it up with a Super Bowl victory, with San Francisco doing it in 1988 and ’89, Chicago in 1985 and Pittsburgh in 1978.