The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will meet this Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale (Arizona, USA) to decide who will be the NFL Super Bowl LVII champion.
The Eagles were proclaimed winners of the National Conference (NFC) and the Chiefs did the same in the American (AFC) after having been the top two teams in each conference during the regular season (both with a record of 14-3).
This is the third Super Bowl in four years for Kansas City, which won the title in 2020, while Philadelphia will look for the second ring in its history after premiering its record in the 2018 Super Bowl.
These are some of the keys to the expected duel on Sunday that will be played starting at 4:30 p.m. local time
1.- THE MAGIC OF MAHOMES (AND THE STATE OF HIS ANKLE)
Recently chosen MVP of the 2022 season and established as the great star of the NFL today, Patrick Mahomes arrives at this Super Bowl with a top hat full of inexhaustible tricks but also with an ankle between cotton balls and which made him play practically lame in the AFC final.
The extraordinary ‘quarterback’ of the Chiefs could become the first quarterback in history who is proclaimed Super Bowl champion achieving more than 5,000 passing yards in a season.
2.- JALEN HURTS, YOUTH DIVINE TREASURE
At just 24 years old, Jalen Hurts, the Eagles’ offensive baton, could be the fourth quarterback under the age of 25 to win a Super Bowl (Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and his rival tomorrow, Patrick Mahomes, are the other three).
One of the unknowns of the Super Bowl is seeing how Hurts deals with the pressure and tension of the game. most anticipated game of the year, but this NFL final has already made history as the first with two black starting quarterbacks.
3.- BROTHERS ON OPPOSITE SIDES
History will also be made by Travis Kelce (Chiefs) and Jason Kelce (Eagles), who will become the first brothers to play in a Super Bowl on opposing teams.
A stellar tight end, Travis is Mahomes’ best partner and a fearsome threat to Kansas City’s offense, while veteran Jason is the anchor of Philadelphia’s formidable offensive line that escorts Hurts.
4.- ANDY REID BEFORE HIS EX-TEAM
Andy Reid was in charge of the Eagles for fourteen years, but on Sunday the prestigious Chiefs coach will try to break the dream of the team now led by Nick Sirianni.
Reid’s imprint on the Philadelphia franchise lives on as he drafted three players who remain indispensable to the Eagles: Jason Kelce, Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox.
5.- INDIVIDUALITIES AGAINST THE COLLECTIVE
It gives the impression that, to get the win, Kansas City will depend on the individualities of its best men (Mahomes, Kelce or even an Isiah Pacheco that could be crucial) while Philadelphia boasts a more compact, solid and balanced team in all its lines.
That’s not to say the Eagles don’t have sparks of individual talent, as their fantastic receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith could tip the scales in their favor.
6.- ATTENTION TO THE DEFENSES
With much of the analysis by specialists focused on the Mahomes-Hurts matchup, the level of the Eagles’ defensethe best in the entire league against the pass (179.8 yards conceded per game), aims to be a determining factor with Haason Reddick as a bulwark.
In Kansas City, Chris Jones is their beacon on defense on a surprisingly weak late-yardage team (second-worst team in the league in percentage of points allowed in the red zone).
7.- THE RETURN OF RIHANNA
Regardless of what happens between the Eagles and Chiefs, the big star on Sunday will be Rihanna, star of the musical show halftime that attracts as much attention as the match itself.
Regarded as one of the most important pop figures of the 21st century, this Super Bowl could definitely mark the return to the forefront of the singer’s music, who has not released a new album since the distant “ANTI” (2016) and who, in recent years, has achieved great success with her fashion brand and fenty cosmetics
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