By Luke Essig, Staff Writer

The NFL playoffs are coming to a close, with the Super Bowl set to be played this Sunday in New Orleans, La. 

The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, who they beat in Super Bowl LVII 38-35. Critics are calling this matchup boring and predictable, but their respective roads to the Big Game were not as easy as some make them out to be.  

The Chiefs were the No. 1 seed in the AFC, giving them a first round bye. After beating the Los Angeles Chargers in the second round, the Chiefs went on to play the Houston Texans. The Texans tried everything they could, going into the fourth quarter down one point, but they couldn’t hold the Chiefs off in the fourth as they scored 10 points and went on to win 23-14. 

Statistically, the Texans should have won that game. They had 125 more total yards, seven more minutes of total possession and 100 more rushing yards than the Chiefs. The biggest category that they led in, however, was penalties. They committed eight penalties for 82 yards while the Chiefs only committed four for 29 yards. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud outperformed Patrick Mahomes by a landslide, but it just wasn’t enough. 

For the Eagles, they stormed through the Green Bay Packers in a Wild Card matchup. On the opening kickoff, the Eagles forced a fumble and never seemed out of control after that. With three interceptions and no touchdowns, Packers quarterback Jordan Love raised a few eyebrows as to whether he was worth his pricey contract. 

The Eagles then went on to play the Los Angeles Rams, marking their biggest test of the playoffs. The Rams offense fumbled the ball twice, running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 205 yards and it proved that the quarterback play does not matter for this team. Quarterback Jalen Hurts only had 128 yards and one rushing touchdown, while Barkley had the other two touchdowns. The Rams defense was persistent, though. They sacked Hurts seven times, but still fell short as the Eagles triumphed 28-22. 

The Chiefs faced the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship. As of the last few seasons, this has become the hottest rivalry in the NFL. The Bills were 0-4 against the Chiefs in the playoffs going into the game, and quarterback Josh Allen was 4-4 against them in his career. The Bills did hand the Chiefs one of their two losses this year, earning a 30-21 win in week 11. 

With a one point lead going into the fourth quarter, the game was on the shoulders of the Chiefs. They had possession of the ball with six minutes left, setting them up to kick a game-winning field goal. After a drop by Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid on a fourth down, the Chiefs won in dramatic fashion. 

In the NFC Championship, the Eagles had to go up against their division rival the Washington Commanders led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Commanders were a team to watch this year after going 4-13 last season before reshaping their team in the offseason. The Commanders earned a 12-5 regular season record and won their first two playoff games in 33 years.

Daniels was one game away from being the first rookie quarterback to start in the Super Bowl. However, the Cinderella story ended there. The Commanders stood no chance against the Eagles’ firepower. With three fumbles, the Eagles capitalized on every chance they could get to score.
Hurts and Barkley each rushed for three touchdowns, with rookie Will Shipley running for a seventh at the very end of the game to set an NFC Championship record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game. There was, again, no answer for Barkley, who ran for 118 yards in only 15 attempts. Despite having a weak team behind him, Daniels was able to pull of a solid game. The Commanders, however, would lose 55-23, in an appalling blowout. 

This year’s Super Bowl matchup is a competitive one compared to recent years. On paper, the Eagles have a much better team, but playoff Patrick Mahomes has not lost a playoff game in years. The Chiefs are looking to be the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls, and a win would cement Mahomes as one of the greatest of all time.  

The key to the game for the Chiefs is to slow down Barkley and take advantage of the Eagles defense. Barkley ran for 2,005 yards in the regular season and is currently on a five-game 125 or more rushing yard streak. If Barkley can keep this up, the Chiefs will have a hard time overcoming them on offense. If the Chiefs are able to slow down the Eagles on defense, tight end Travis Kelce should be able to run away with this game when on offense. 

A riveting game lies ahead and fans will see if the Chiefs can be record breakers or if the Eagles will get revenge for the 2023 Super Bowl.