It’s been an exciting 2023 NFL Playoffs so far, but the field has been narrowed down to two teams as the Kansas City Chiefs will square off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
The Eagles dominated the 2022 season as they had the best record all year and it showed throughout their playoff run as they won convincingly over the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. Jalen Hurts has shown no ill signs of a shoulder injury that forced him to miss time, while Philadelphia’s defense has been tough to score on so far.
During the NFC Championship game against the 49ers, the Eagles were able to take advantage of injuries as Brock Purdy was forced to leave after suffering an elbow injury on his team’s opening drive. Backup quarterback Josh Johnson fared about as well as one could hope before he was knocked out of the game due to a concussion, forcing Purdy to re-enter and try to gut things out.
Without much of a threat from San Francisco, Philadelphia was able to keep the football on the ground and churn out time of possession. The ground game worked to perfection for the Eagles who scored all four of their touchdowns rushing, with two of them coming from Miles Sanders and one each from Hurts and Boston Scott.
On the AFC side, it was a much closer contest between the Cincinnati Bengals and Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes was able to play through a high ankle sprain he sustained against the Jacksonville Jaguars, moving good enough in the pocket to find receivers downfield for accurate throws.
However, there were a couple of instances where it looked like the Bengals would take another win in Arrowhead as their defense was able to give the ball back to Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter. To their credit, Kansas City’s defense stood their ground and gave Mahomes a chance to close things out late in the game. The matchup was ultimately decided when Mahomes earned an unnecessary roughness penalty after he was shoved out of bounds, setting up the game-winning field goal.
The Eagles and Chiefs have been the class of their respective conferences throughout the 2022 season and it’s only fitting that both sides will clash in what’s sure to be an exciting matchup. Mahomes is clearly the best quarterback in the NFL today, but Hurts and the Eagles have a roster that makes it hard to bet against.
Sunday, February 12
Super Bowl LVII: Kansas City Chiefs @ Philadelphia Eagles, 3:30 p.m. PT (FOX)
