This is not necessarily the same Super Bowl of two years ago, but another Chiefs vs. Eagles matchup has increased the historical significance. We look at what’s on the line, including Patrick Mahomes and a potential three-peat to Saquon Barkley and a record run.
Every year the Super Bowl is billed as a clash between two teams of destiny looking to make history.
Most years, the terms “destiny” and “history” are loosely defined.
This year, however, there’s no question Super Bowl history can be made.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a chance to do something that’s never been achieved before; Win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Those wins include a Super Bowl victory over Philadelphia two years ago in Arizona, and, sure enough, the Eagles have an opportunity to accomplish something that’s also never been accomplished: Win a rematch of a Super Bowl played within five seasons of the initial game.
So, without quibbling over what exactly defines “history,” there’s no debate that by the time the clock hits zero in Super Bowl 59 Sunday night in New Orleans, we’ll witness something happen for the first time.
Chiefs vs. Eagles: Defining the History
It’s not just that Kansas City is seeking a third-straight Super Bowl title after being victorious against the Eagles (SB 57) and the San Francisco 49ers (SB 58). Including the Chiefs, there have been nine instances of teams winning back-to-back titles, but, with their 32-29 win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC conference championship game, they’re the first team to even make it back to a third-straight Super Bowl.
In NFL history, teams have won three consecutive titles, but not all of them occurred in the Super Bowl era. The Green Bay Packers were crowned champions in three straight seasons from 1929-31 as well as from 1965-67, with the last two seasons coming in Super Bowls 1 and 2.
There’s another way the Chiefs will make history against the Eagles. They will be playing in their 19th playoff game since the start of the 2019 season – the most by any team over a six-year span in NFL history.
Nineteen games, yeah, that’s more than a season’s worth. By comparison, over the same span, the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers have not even reached the postseason.
The Chiefs vs. Eagles showdown will mark the ninth time two teams have met previously in football’s biggest game, and it’s the fifth time the two teams playing for the Lombardi Trophy met multiple times in the Super Bowl within a five-season span. But it also just occurred with the Chiefs as quarterback Patrick Mahomes helped lead wins over San Francisco to end the 2019 and ’24 seasons (last year was a 25-22 overtime thriller).
Similarly, in those three other occurrences of a Super Bowl matchup occurring multiple times within a five-season span, the loser of the first matchup has yet to exact revenge by winning the second meeting.
The NFC champion Eagles, however, are looking to break that trend, and maybe they have “history” on their side. After they lost to the New England Patriots 24-21 in Super Bowl 39, the two teams met again 13 years later in SB 52, and the Eagles pulled out a 41-33 victory.
There was only one player on either team’s roster from both matchups, and you can guess who that was – the incomparable Tom Brady, who will be in the TV booth Sunday night as the color analyst for FOX.
For this matchup, there will likely be more than 40 players taking the field at the Superdome who also participated in the game two years ago.
Several of these names are familiar even to casual football fans, from Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones leading the Chiefs to the Eagles bringing back QB Jalen Hurts and their talented wide receiver tandem of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
While both Kansas City and Philadelphia feature plenty of familiar faces from Super Bowl 57, there’s been a particularly significant addition to the Eagles’ roster.
Saquon Barkley: The Difference Maker?
Philadelphia’s decision to sign Saquon Barkley last March may go down as the greatest offseason acquisitions in NFL history.
His 2,005 rushing yards were the eighth-most in a single season. But he was within reach of Eric Dickerson’s record before Eagles coach Nick Sirianni opted to sit Barkley in a meaningless finale to preserve him for the NFL playoffs.
That decision looks quite good.
After averaging 125.3 rushing yards per game in the regular season, Barkley has been even better in the playoffs, averaging an absurd 147.3 in three wins. In the Super Bowl era, only four players have averaged more rushing yards in a single postseason (minimum two games), with Terrell Davis having the high of 156.0 for the Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos in the 1998 season.
Barkley would need an extraordinary performance to surpass Davis’ average – 183 rushing yards, a total reached by only two players in a Super Bowl – Washington’s Timmy Smith rushed for 204 yards to cap the 1987 season and Oakland’s Marcus Allen had 191 rushing yards in the 1983 season Super Bowl.
Barkley, however, can break a different record held by Davis with relative ease. With 30 yards, Barkley would establish a record for rushing yards in a single season, including the playoffs.
Barkley is plenty capable of breaking Davis’ mark on a single play – maybe even his first touch, like he did in the NFC championship game with a 60-yard touchdown run on Philadelphia’s first play from scrimmage. It set the tone for the Eagles’ emphatic, 55-23 win over the Washington Commanders.
That was Barkley’s 13th rushing play of 30+ yards this season, and his three in the playoffs have been at least 60 yards. With one more run of 30+ yards, he’ll match Chris Johnson of the 2009 Tennessee Titans for the most in a season since 1991.
The Chiefs, though, have done a good job of limiting big plays on the ground. They allowed a 33-yard run to Buffalo’s James Cook in the AFC championship game, but that was just the second run of 30+ yards surrendered this season. Only the Baltimore Ravens (none) and Atlanta Falcons (one) yielded fewer 30+ runs.
Kansas City managed to bottle up 2023 NFL rushing leader Christian McCaffrey in last year’s Super Bowl, allowing 80 yards on 22 carries for an average of 3.6 yards per attempt, with his longest run only 11 yards. As they try for the same against Barkley in one of the game’s key matchups, it will mark the seventh time the league’s rushing leader will play in the Super Bowl.
McCaffrey wasn’t alone as a league rushing leader having a substandard Super Bowl. It’s been more than 30 years since a leader eclipsed his season average in the Super Bowl, when Emmitt Smith capped the 1993 season with 132 yards in the Dallas Cowboys 30-13 win over the Bills. To do it, though, Smith needed 30 carries – tied for the fourth-most in a Super Bowl – with his longest run going for 15 yards.
Barkley is trying to become the first NFL rushing leader to win a Super Bowl since Davis in the Broncos’ 1998 season. If he plays a big role in leading the Eagles to a title, he seemingly has a good chance to achieve something else that hasn’t been done since Davis; No running back has been named the Super Bowl MVP since Davis capped the 1997 season (SB 32) with 157 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in Denver’s 31-24 win over Green Bay.
Barkley has made the running back position vogue again. He can reel off a huge run at any time and completely change the game on a single play.
Seeing as he is a threat to score a touchdown any time he touches the ball and given how instrumental he’s been to the Eagles’ success this season, it’s not surprising Barkley has the second-best odds of being named the MVP of Sunday night’s game at +260, according to DraftKings Sportsbook as of Feb. 3.
The only player with better odds at +120 already has three Super Bowl MVPs on his résumé and is on a career trajectory unlike any quarterback in NFL history.
Patrick Mahomes: The GOAT?
By helping the Chiefs capture three of the last five titles, Mahomes has garnered three Super Bowl MVP awards along the way.
The only player with more Super Bowl MVPs is Brady with five.
With another victory over the Eagles, Mahomes would capture his fourth Super Bowl ring to pull even among NFL quarterbacks with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. It would bring him within three of Brady’s seemingly untouchable record of seven Super Bowl titles (including the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history).
Just 29, this is Mahomes’ fifth Super Bowl appearance in eight NFL seasons – something John Elway also did during his 16-year Hall of Fame career. Brady is the only QB to play in more Super Bowls with 10.
During his career, Brady was lauded for his ability to raise his play when it mattered the most and will his team to victory. He’s widely recognized as the greatest quarterback of all time.
When Brady won his seventh Super Bowl title just four seasons ago, it seemed unfathomable another quarterback would ever challenge that mark, but Mahomes is quickly making a serious run for his record.
Like Brady, Mahomes has built the reputation of being the signal caller you want leading your team with the game on the line, especially in the playoffs.
This will be Mahomes’ 21st career postseason game. Like Mahomes, Brady had three Super Bowl titles on his résumé through his first 20 playoff games, but he didn’t win earn his fourth until his 29th playoff game at the end of his 15th season.
While Brady is the gold standard in terms of winning, Mahomes has the edge in every major statistical category compared to Brady’s first 20 career playoff games. In fact, Mahomes grades out better than pretty much every other quarterback through his first 20 career playoff games.
Mahomes ranks first in passing touchdowns, completion percentage and passer rating and his 50 passes of at least 25 yards are tied with Russell Wilson for the most. Only one quarterback had more passing yards through his first 20 playoff games – Peyton Manning with 5,679, or 122 more than Mahomes.
However, Mahomes averages 7.69 yards per attempt, while Manning averaged 7.46. Some of Manning’s other 20-game postseason numbers weren’t as strong, either, including a 63.2 completion percentage, 88.4 QB rating and 32 passing touchdowns to 21 interceptions.
This postseason, Mahomes has thrown for only 422 yards with two touchdowns in Kansas City’s two wins, but he hasn’t thrown an interception, and his 66.7 completion percentage and 105.2 QB rating are right in line with his career playoff averages.
He’s already cemented his place as one of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL history. If he can help the Chiefs beat the Eagles, there will be only one QB with more Super Bowl wins.
Even with a victory Sunday night, Mahomes still has a way to go before he can match Brady’s Super Bowl history, but he’ll have accomplished something Tom Terrific never achieved with three titles in a row.
While Brady may hold the title of GOAT, Mahomes is positioning himself to be bestowed with that moniker someday.
Enjoy this? You can also follow our social accounts over on X, Threads, Bluesky and Facebook.
