Staff Writer
After a high-stakes Conference Championship round, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs have emerged victorious and will face each other in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, February 12th.
In the NFC Championship game, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles faced off against the San Francisco 49ers, led by rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, who stepped up to replace injured quarterbacks Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo in December. The rookie third-stringer had impressed in the absence of his team’s true leader and led the Niners to the NFC Championship despite their injury troubles.
Unfortunately, Purdy did not get a chance to continue his cinderella run as he picked up an elbow injury of his own during the first quarter and had to be removed from the game, forcing the Niners to rely on their 4th-string quarterback, veteran journeyman Josh Johnson, who had not played in an NFL game since 2019. The 49ers hung on for as long as they could but struggled to get things going on offense, leading the Eagles to take advantage of the situation and put on the gas pedal to win in convincing fashion, 31-7.
This marks the 4th time the Eagles will play in the Super Bowl and the first time since they won the Super Bowl in 2017.
The AFC Championship, on the other hand, was a close matchup throughout, with the fire-powered offenses of Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs and Joe Burrows’ Bengals facing off in a rematch of last years’ AFC Championship. This time, however, the Chiefs edged out the Bengals to claim the Lamar Hunt trophy and a ticket to the big game.
The teams were tied going into the final 2 minutes after a solid display from both quarterbacks, but the Bengals failed to score on their last drive, giving Mahomes and the Chiefs a chance to win the game with under one minute to go. The Chiefs stormed downfield and eventually faced a 3rd and 4 just outside of field goal territory to keep their drive alive. Patrick Mahomes scrambled and was forced to rush on the play, stretching to reach the first down marker as he fell out of bounds when Bengals rookie Joseph Ossai pushed Mahomes right after the play had been called dead, prompting a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that placed the Chiefs right in field goal position for their kicker Harrison Butker to seal the victory. A tight, last-minute victory marked by an unwise penalty to cap off Championship weekend.
Winning the tight game places the Chiefs in the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in the last 5 years, solidifying the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid/Travis Kelce dynasty taking place in Kansas City.
The Eagles will look to improve their record against Kansas City, as they have not beaten the Chiefs since Andy Reid took over as head coach in Kansas City. The Chiefs will look to win another Super Bowl after their defeat to Tom Brady’s Buccaneers in their last appearance. With the whole country watching, Super Bowl LVII should be one for the history books.
