There aren’t any increased stakes in soccer than when the Vince Lombardi Trophy is on the road.
And but, Tremendous Bowl LIX feels… completely different, the stakes increased than regular.
It’s historic, for one factor. The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, already one of many biggest dynasties we’ve ever seen on this sport, are taking purpose at a three-peat. It’s one thing no franchise has ever even tried — not the Brady-Belichick Patriots, not the Nineties Cowboys, or the 49ers who challenged them, not the Metal Curtain of the Seventies… you get the concept.
It feels considerably poetic that this three-peat try ought to come towards the identical workforce Kansas Metropolis defeated to start out this Tremendous Bowl win streak two years in the past. The Philadelphia Eagles search revenge on their method again to the highest, in the hunt for their first Tremendous Bowl win for the reason that Philly Particular knocked off the dynastic Patriots in February of 2018.
Because the Chiefs and Eagles battle it out in Tremendous Bowl LIX on Sunday, legacies will take form. There may be, after all, Patrick Mahomes, whose standing within the nice GOAT debate has began to stretch past the bounds of the NFL and earn him comparisons to among the most dominant figures in all of sport. A win for Mahomes provides one other ring to his rely, a bit extra shine on his Corridor of Fame bust, and a smaller hole between his win tally and that of Tom Brady.
However his will not be the one legacy within the highlight on Sunday.
Whereas the Chiefs are in place to make historical past, the legacies of these in crimson extra front-of-mind, there are people on the opposite aspect of this matchup whose personal careers may be drastically altered, their trajectory and place in historical past superior, with a victory on Sunday.
There’s a trophy on the road, before everything, however Tremendous Bowl LIX brings legacies to the forefront, too. They’re at numerous levels of building, however all are price noting and celebrating.
Mahomes is already in elite firm relating to quarterbacks with essentially the most rings. He’s at the moment tied with Earl Morrall and Troy Aikman in third place with three. A fourth would see him be part of Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana in second. He’s acquired extra profitable to do if he’s to meet up with the GOAT himself, Tom Brady (seven), however at this fee… is anybody going to doubt him?
Mahomes made historical past earlier this post-season by tying, after which passing, Montana for many profession playoff wins by a quarterback. His 17 such victories have him trailing solely Brady (35), however what is probably much more spectacular is the outstanding tempo at which Mahomes has racked up these wins. He’s solely misplaced 3 times within the post-season, with solely two quarterbacks capable of greatest him — Brady did it twice (as soon as with the Patriots within the AFC Championship, after which with Tampa Bay in Tremendous Bowl LV). Joe Burrow is the opposite.
Age isn’t only a quantity relating to Mahomes. It’s a history-maker, too. The 29-year-old will make historical past on Sunday when he turns into the youngest quarterback to start out 5 Tremendous Bowls. A win would make him the primary QB to win 4 Tremendous Bowls earlier than turning 30. (For context, Brady received his third Tremendous Bowl at age 27 however didn’t win his fourth till 37.)
His manufacturing within the sport’s largest moments is nearly unparalleled. Mahomes at the moment ranks fifth in profession playoff landing passes, with 43, and is anticipated to leap a number of spots on Sunday. A two-touchdown sport would see Mahomes leapfrog Brett Favre (44) and bounce right into a three-way tie with Montana and Aaron Rodgers (45 every) behind Brady (88).
He’s been named Tremendous Bowl MVP every time he’s hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, and one other sturdy efficiency in a three-peat victory would seemingly see him declare a fourth — only one shy of Brady’s 5 awards.
What a distinction a yr could make. After spending the primary six seasons of his profession toiling in New York, Saquon Barkley has been set free on the league. It’s nearly as if he’s making up for misplaced time, having the sort of marketing campaign that will get you a first-class ticket into the Corridor of Fame. A Tremendous Bowl ring to prime it off would certainly safe his spot as top-of-the-line to ever play the sport.
Possibly that final half is up for debate — the NFL has a wealthy historical past of dynamic operating backs from which to assemble your Mount Rushmore — however there’s no questioning the numbers he’s put up this yr. They inform a narrative of top-of-the-line single-season operating sprees anybody has ever had.
We’ll by no means know if Barkley might’ve written his title atop the checklist of the league’s highest single-season speeding totals — he sat simply 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s file (2,105) when Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni determined to relaxation his star operating again for what was an in any other case meaningless Week 18 sport.
However we’re about to search out out whether or not Barkley could make one other sort of historical past — a form few even get the chance to achieve — when he steps onto the sector for Tremendous Bowl LIX. Barkley, 27, wants simply 30 yards to surpass Denver Broncos nice Terrell Davis for the best speeding whole in a single season and post-season mixed.
Following up on his sensational first yr in Philadelphia, which noticed him set a number of franchise data and earn himself a spot amongst league MVP finalists, Barkley’s been practically unstoppable within the playoffs. He’s collected 442 speeding yards and 5 touchdowns via three video games this post-season. A 58-yard effort on Sunday would see Barkley turn into simply the third participant in NFL playoff historical past to hit the 500-yard mark in a single post-season, becoming a member of Washington’s John Riggins (610 in 1982) and Davis (581 in 1997).
Davis was the final operating again to be topped Tremendous Bowl MVP. Barkley might be the one to alter that.
Reid’s current success is tightly woven with that of Mahomes’ — Reid and Mahomes merely aren’t three-time Tremendous Bowl champs with out each other. The offensive mastermind is credited with recognizing Mahomes’ abilities within the 2017 draft class and creating the first-rounder for a yr earlier than setting him free on the league in 2018.
Collectively, they type one of many biggest coach-quarterback partnerships the sport has ever seen. Individually, Reid — like his quarterback — is constructing his personal legacy price recognizing and celebrating. And there’s no matchup that higher exemplifies his accomplishments than Tremendous Bowl LIX — he’s, in spite of everything, the winningest head coach within the historical past of each franchises hitting the sector on Sunday. No different head coach has ever reached greater than 100 wins with two completely different organizations. Reid’s 273 mixed wins locations him fourth league-wide in regular-season victories — solely Belichick (302), George Halas (318), and Don Shula (328) have extra.
Whereas quite a lot of his success has lengthy been attributed to the longevity of his profession — 26 years and counting — it’s his consistency that’s so hanging. In these 26 seasons as a head coach, he put up simply three dropping seasons (all in Philadelphia; he is by no means had a dropping season with the Chiefs). And it’s his playoff proficiency — significantly in Kansas Metropolis — that launches him deep into the dialog of the best coach of all time.
The 66-year-old bench boss made historical past simply by attending to the 2024 playoffs — he set a brand new NFL file together with his twentieth post-season berth, another than Shula and Belichick — and he’ll make extra historical past simply by displaying up on Sunday. Tremendous Bowl LIX marks the forty fifth profession playoff sport of his illustrious head teaching profession, formally placing him atop the checklist of all-time post-season appearances by a head coach, forward of Belichick (44). Reid’s 28 playoff victories are the second most amongst all coaches in NFL historical past, simply three shy of Belichick’s 31. A fourth Tremendous Bowl ring on Sunday wouldn’t solely make Reid the one head coach in soccer historical past to win three straight Tremendous Bowls, it will additionally tie him with the legendary Chuck Noll, whose Steelers dominated a lot of the Seventies, for the second-most titles within the Tremendous Bowl period. Proper now, solely Noll and Belichick (six) have hoisted extra Lombardi Trophies than Reid.
His profession to this point hasn’t launched him into the sort of conversations through which his Chiefs counterpart dwells, however a victory for the Eagles on Sunday would see Hurts’ inventory skyrocket greater than most.
After posting MVP numbers in 2022 to guide Philadelphia to his first Tremendous Bowl, Hurts’ passing sport took a step again this yr. The arrival of star operating again Saquon Barkley put the run sport front-and-centre in Philly — and whereas Hurts excels on his ft, his 248 completions and a couple of,903 passing yards this season have been his lowest totals as a starter, prompting questions in regards to the workforce’s belief in his arm.
Hurts answered lots of these questions two weeks in the past when the Eagles dominated the Commanders within the NFC Championship. Along with his trio of speeding scores, he additionally aired it out for 246 yards and a passing TD.
With the Eagles’ NFC Championship win over the Commanders, Hurts joined an unique membership because the eighth quarterback in league historical past to look in a number of Tremendous Bowls inside their first 5 seasons as a starter. (Mahomes, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Russell Wilson are the others.)
Hurts’ sensational efficiency in Tremendous Bowl LVII earned him a spot within the historical past books as the one quarterback to hurry for 3 touchdowns in a Tremendous Bowl. (He joined Broncos operating again Terrell Davis as simply the second participant of any place to perform the feat.)
He sits simply two touchdowns shy of the good Emmitt Smith on the all-time checklist of Tremendous Bowl speeding TDs (Smith has 5 in three video games), and contemplating his three-TD sport towards the Commanders within the NFC Championship two weeks in the past, he’s in superb type to make one other splash.
A win is about redemption and eternally being the 2024 champs. However for Hurts, it’s additionally about proving 2022 wasn’t an outlier, and rerouting his profession trajectory. And the honour of knocking off the back-to-back champs? That’s a legacy builder.
The Mahomes-Kelce connection has thrilled soccer followers and foiled opposing defences all through the Chiefs’ outstanding run.
He’s the franchise chief in receptions, yards, and — as of Christmas 2024 — touchdowns, too, as his 77th profession TD catch noticed him move one other all-time nice tight finish, Tony Gonzalez. All that historical past, and we’ve haven’t even gotten to the playoffs but — and as we all know, that’s when Kelce is at his greatest.
Kelce’s post-season legacy extends far past Kansas Metropolis. He’s certainly one of simply three gamers to have caught greater than 100 passes within the playoffs, and he leads all gamers within the class with 174 — 23 greater than the good Jerry Rice. With an 81.3 per cent catch fee within the playoffs, he’s about as clutch as they arrive.
Kelce has 20 profession playoff landing receptions to his title, trailing solely Rice (22). He additionally ranks second behind Rice in profession playoff receiving yards — Kelce has accrued 2,039 in 24 post-season video games, whereas Rice completed his profession with 2,245 in 29 video games.
It’s a secure guess that Kelce closes each gaps on Sunday — he’s recorded not less than one landing in 14 of 20 playoff matchups when taking part in with Mahomes, together with 4 multi-TD video games.
Contemplating all of the elite expertise on this Eagles roster, it shouldn’t precisely come as a shock to see Philly again on the NFL’s largest stage. And but, if you mirror on simply how catastrophic the conclusion to final season was, full with a collapse down the stretch and a dull playoff look, the 2024 marketing campaign might’ve gone in a really completely different course.
There are lots of people who share the credit score for the turnaround. Basic supervisor Howie Roseman did a masterful job hiring, drafting, and signing the numerous new faces in Philly, however there’s no denying that every one that turnover prompts a tradition shift — and that’s the place Sirianni ought to get quite a lot of credit score. Was this workforce with out drama? Not within the slightest. Are Sirianni’s antics considerably… polarizing? Undoubtedly. However to start out the season on the recent seat and finish it beneath the sport’s brightest lights tells us that Sirianni’s cool-under-pressure manner would possibly simply make him the proper coach for this intense soccer market.
It’ll take some time for Sirianni to climb his technique to something near Reid’s stage of success — in Philly, and on the league stage, however he could make some fairly vital strikes in the best course with a win over the legendary coach on Sunday. When the Eagles emphatically booked their ticket to Tremendous Bowl LIX, it put Sirianni in rarified air as simply the third head coach to make it to the Tremendous Bowl twice in his first 4 seasons on the helm. (The primary was Joe Gibbs, who’s within the Corridor of Fame. The second was Mike Tomlin, who’ll be there on the primary poll each time he decides to name it a profession.)
Sirianni might additionally make some distinctive historical past relating to Tremendous Bowl rematches. There have been 9 Tremendous Bowl rematches in NFL historical past, 4 of which featured the identical two head coaches going head-to-head for a second time. In these rematches, the coach who received the primary assembly is 4-0 within the second. A victory for Sirianni on Sunday would put one within the win column for the underdog.
