The Philadelphia Eagles captured the NFC Championship Sunday, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-7. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs won a thrilling AFC Championship battle with the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, advancing to their third Super Bowl in the last four years. The Eagles and Chiefs reached Super Bowl 57 in very different ways.
Kansas City played in a truly compelling title game, as Patrick Mahomes finally beat Joe Burrow head to head. All of the talk before the game was about how Burrow was 3-0 against the Chiefs legendary quarterback. Even the Cincinnati Mayor famously made light of the situation, posting a bold video message on social media.
After the Chiefs win, it didn't take long for Kansas City's stars to clap back. Travis Kelce went at it the hardest, using some profanities along the way.
The Chiefs had a banged up Mahomes, and lost wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Kadarius Toney in the win. Players like Skyy Moore and Marcus Kemp caught passes. It was a total team effort and every bit of it was needed.
In the NFC, the Eagles were the beneficiaries of a key injury. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a serious arm injury that essentially made their offense one-dimensional. But that's not to take anything away from the Eagles. They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and earned their right to represent the NFC.
So, let's look ahead and break down the four biggest Super Bowl 57 factors between the Eagles and Chiefs.
3. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes' health
Most people were very surprised Sunday that Mahomes was able to move as much as he did. Nevertheless, he was still clearly hampered by the high ankle sprain he suffered a week prior against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite that, he made the play of the game Sunday rushing for a first down and taking the late hit. The penalty put his team in position for the game-winning field goal.
But there is a very big difference between the Bengals pass rush and the Eagles pass rush. Philadelphia has 78 sacks this season, including the playoffs. That's the second most in NFL history. The Eagles had four different players post double digit sacks in the regular season; namely Hassan Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham.
If Mahomes' ability to move around and get outside the pocket is as compromised in the Super Bowl as it was Sunday, that could spell serious trouble for Kansas City.
2. Eagles ground game vs. Chiefs Front 7
Everyone knows that the Eagles like to run the football. They finished the regular season fifth in rushing, but so much of what they do offensively works off of that also. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was fantastic this year on play action, as defenses generally have to sell out to stop the run.
On Sunday, they were facing arguably the best all-around defense in the league. The 49ers were second best in the league at stopping opposing running games. Even though they were stout at times, Philadelphia opened enough seams to score four times on the ground.
Miles Sanders walked in untouched twice in the first half. The first from six yards out and later from 23 yards away. The Eagles might be the best in the league at pulling their center and guard and outnumbering you on the outside. The Chiefs defense is going to have to try to find a way to keep that from happening to them.
Chris Jones and company had a fantastic game against the Bengals. But Cincinnati was down three starting offensive lineman. The Eagles have the best offensive line in the entire NFL. The trenches will never be more important than they will in Super Bowl 57.
1. Kansas City cornerbacks vs. AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith
The Kansas City Chiefs not only got banged in the wide receiver department against the Bengals, but their secondary also was hit. Veteran CB L'Jarius Sneed suffered a head injury during the first quarter of the AFC Championship Sunday. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Sneed has landed in the concussion protocol. His status for the Super Bowl is still unknown at this point.
Sneed has become the most important member of the Chiefs secondary this year. All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu left for New Orleans in free agency prior to the season. Alongside Sneed, Kansas City has three rookies they play. They played surprisingly very well and made some really big pass breakups in the win over the Bengals. But they likely are going to have to play equally as well, if not better, in the Super Bowl.
One thing that made their lives easier was Chris Jones and the Chiefs front's ability to get pressure on Joe Burrow. The Bengals offensive line however was decimated by injury. The Eagles have, as we talked about, the best offensive line in football. Jalen Hurts is unlikely to be under the same duress as Burrow.
That is going to put a lot of pressure on rookies Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams. Will they be able to stay with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith or will the Chiefs have to resort to a ton of zone defense? That is going to be a crucial aspect to this game.
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