NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire service Report) – Super Bowl LVII earned an average TV audience of 113 million people, the Nielsen Company reported, making it the third most-watched Super Bowl on record and the third most-watched television broadcast of all time.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles came up just shy of the record of 114.4 million viewers, on average, that watched the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015.

Super Bowl LI, the Patriots’ famed 34-28 comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons in February 2017, hit 113.7 million for Fox between network and streaming, making Chiefs-Eagles Fox Sports’ second most-watched broadcast ever.

About 106 million viewers watched Super Bowl LVII on Fox and Fox Deportes, and the other seven million utilized streaming platforms that factored into the total.

It represents a modest bump over last year’s Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, which reported 112.3 million viewers on average.

Rihanna’s halftime show drew an average of 118.7 million viewers, Nielsen reported, making it the second most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance on record.

The average of seven million streams made Super Bowl LVII the most-streamed Super Bowl to date, Fox said.

Predictably, Kansas City and Philadelphia were the top two metered markets for the broadcast, followed by Cincinnati, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

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GLENDALE – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – Patrick Mahomes limped off the field at halftime with the Kansas City Chiefs trailing by 10 points.

It turns out there was no need to fret, not with the Super Bowl having a 29-minute halftime.

Mahomes got treatment during the lengthy break and came out convinced his injured right ankle would hold up. His belief was correct, and he guided the Chiefs to a 38-35 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday night in Arizona.

Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left and Mahomes passed for two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Kansas City became just the second team in Super Bowl history to rally from a deficit of 10 or more points.

The Super Bowl title is the third for Kansas City. The Chiefs also won Super Bowl IV (1969 season) and Super Bowl LIV (2019).

Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time in four seasons, but he stopped short of calling the Chiefs the rulers of the NFL.

“I’m not going to say dynasty yet,” Mahomes said. “We’re not done.”

Midseason acquisition Kadarius Toney sparked Kansas City by catching a touchdown pass and setting up another score with a long punt return. Travis Kelce and Skyy Moore caught touchdown passes, Isiah Pacheco ran for a score and Nick Bolton returned a fumble for a touchdown for the Chiefs.

The result gave Kansas City coach Andy Reid a victory over the team he coached for 14 seasons from 1999-2012.

“I know that city loves him and that organization loves him,” Kelce said of Reid. “Call it what you want — there is a lot of pride that he has had success in two different organizations, but this is the better one.”

Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts tied a Super Bowl record with three rushing scores and also passed for one touchdown. Hurts was 27-of-38 passing for 304 yards and rushed for 70 while teaming up with Mahomes as the first pair of Black starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history.

Former Denver Broncos star Terrell Davis rushed for three touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.

Kansas City moved 66 yards on 12 plays for the winning field goal, receiving help from a third-down defensive holding penalty on Philadelphia’s James Bradberry. The cornerback briefly grabbed the jersey of Kansas City wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster.

“It was a holding,” Bradberry said. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni declined to criticize the call.

“I know it always appears that it’s one call,” Sirianni said. “That’s not what it is. There are so many plays that contribute to the end result of the game. And today they were better than we were.”

Another key play was a 26-yard scramble by Mahomes, who earlier aggravated his right ankle injury on Kansas City’s final offensive snap of the first half.

“Whenever you aggravate those high ankles, it hurts,” Mahomes said. “It feels like it did the first time. … But you’ve got to play at the end of the day.”

A.J. Brown caught six passes for 96 yards and one touchdown and DeVonta Smith had seven receptions for 100 yards for the Eagles.

Teams that trailed by 10 or more points at halftime in the Super Bowl are now 2-26. The New England Patriots were the first team to accomplish it as they recovered from a 25-point hole to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.

Kansas City took its first lead of the contest at 28-27 when Mahomes completed a 5-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Toney with 12:04 left in the game. That also marked the first time Philadelphia had trailed the entire postseason.

The Chiefs then forced a three-and-out and cashed in big when Toney set a Super Bowl record with a 65-yard punt return. He fielded the ball at his 30-yard line and started left before reversing to the right with a wall of teammates blocking. He was stopped at the Eagles 5.

Three plays later, Mahomes had another wide-open target in Moore, who caught a 4-yard scoring pass to give Kansas City an eight-point lead with 9:22 remaining.

Philadelphia quickly responded as Hurts connected with Smith on a 45-yard pass to the Chiefs 2. Hurts scored on a quarterback sneak on the next play and then ran in the two-point conversion to tie it at 35 with 5:15 remaining.

Mahomes re-injured his right ankle when tackled with 1:33 left in the first half but he didn’t seem bothered by it when the Chiefs opened the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Pacheco capped the drive with a 1-yard run with 9:30 left in the third quarter to pull Kansas City within 24-21.

Philadelphia responded with a 17-play, 60-yard drive that took 7:45. Jake Elliott finished it by booting a 33-yard field goal to give the Eagles a six-point lead with 1:45 left in the period.

Hurts rushed for two touchdowns and threw for one in the first half to give Philadelphia a 24-14 advantage.

He made one big first-half miscue, dropping the ball while trying to run out of danger. It bounced up to Bolton, who easily scored on a 36-yard fumble return to tie it at 14 with 9:39 left in the half.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Hurts said. “We had a big-time goal in the end, and we came up short. The beautiful part is we experience different agony in life, and we decide how we want to move forward, how we want to learn. My only direction is to rise.”

Mahomes connected on an 18-yard scoring pass to Kelce in the first quarter. The touchdown reception was Kelce’s 16th in the postseason, second all-time behind legendary Jerry Rice (22).

Kelce also improved to 3-0 all-time in matchups against his older brother Jason, the Eagles’ standout center.

“I’m really, really happy for Trav,” Jason Kelce said. “That team deserves everything it had coming to them. They earned it. … You can’t win them all.”

–Field Level Media

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Have a Super Sunday

By TERRY LYONS

FOXBORO – There’s been quite a few sports columns written from Foxboro, Massachusetts leading up to Super Bowl Sundays of the past. Unlike this column, those were written about Tom Brady and the New England Patriots participating in the Big Games, like those played in the Louisiana SuperDome (2002), Reliant Stadium in Houston (2004), Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville (2005), University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (2008) – the same joint as this year’s game.

Memories of the Patriots’ Super Bowls of the past come from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (2012), back at Glendale, AZ (2015) and NRG Stadium in Houston (2017), at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2018) and their last appearance in the Super Bowl, the 13-3 victory over the La Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (2019).

That’s six Super Bowl championships in nine tries since the turn of the Bill Belichick century with two losses coming at the hands of the NY/NJ Giants, and one to the Philadelphia Eagles who just happen to be the 1.5 point favorites in this year’s Super Bowl matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Overall, the Patriots are 6-5 in 11 total Super Bowl appearances, with the Patriots taking a 46-10 shellacking by Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears in 1986 and losing 35-21 to the Green Bay Packers in 1997, three years before Belichick would become head coach in New England.

This year, all that you can leave behind are Ford Fusions from Rodman Ford sitting idle, like the Patriots, even with their good housekeeping seal of approval from Gronk. In other words, there’s not much going on in Foxboro this weekend except the filing of retirement papers by a certain former quarterback.

That brings us to Super Sunday 2023 in Glendale, Arizona – also known asSuper Bowl LVII (57) – pitting the Philadelphia Eagles (that’s in Pennsylvania, not New Mexico, Illinois or some 22 other places in the world) versus the Kansas City Chiefs (and that’s KC in Missouri, not Kansas for the geographically inept and moronic former Twitter user out there).

Philly opened getting (+1) a point, but the line quickly moved to KC getting (+1.5), a 2.5 swing stressing Eagles’ backers. The line has stayed solid for the past 13 days. The reaction surely a concern on the injury woes of the Chiefs versus the dominating fashion in which the #FlyEaglesFly boys dispatched on the NY/NJ Giants (38-7) in the NFL Divisional round and the (31-7) ear-slappin’ the Eagles put on the season-long impressive SF 49ers in the NFC Championship game.

After two weeks of prep, practices, prognostications, props and predictions – you’ve heard enough. The six hour-plus pregame show will provide another dose, a primer for those who tried to ignore the usual pre-Supe media blitz. Yes, from Radio Row to coverage of the PGA Tour event at nearby Scottsdale there were predictions from every angle.

A compelling score was found on a Golf Channel interview with Merrill Reese, the Eagles’ longtime radio play-by-play man. Reese has been calling Philly Eagles’ games since 1977 and with all of his work, his history, his spending every minute of the 1977-78 to 2022-23 NFL seasons with the Eagles, his advice was to avoid turnovers, especially down the stretch when the last team to possess the ball just night make off with the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy.

If I’ve heard that Super prediction once, I’ve heard it 57 times.

On a more serious note, the Digital Sports Desk site has a super-worthy read of insights and predictions – done with the assistance of content provider extraordinaire Field Level Media. Visit by clicking HERE.

In all previews, the main concern is the injury factor to Kansas City. While so much focus has rightfully been on KC QB Patrick Mahomes, the injuries sustained by KC WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Kadarius Toney(ankle, hamstring) will be a factor if they flare-up. As of Saturday, they’ve both been cleared to play, along with RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire who was activated in place of receiver Mecole Hardman (injured reserve list and out). Edwards-Helaire will re-join a backfield that will rush in triplicate as once reserve RBs Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon have shown signs of greatness to come. The Chiefs will need 80-100 yards from the trio, and a TD or two.

TE/receiver Travis Kelce could rack-up two TDs himself and if you add a FG, the number to beat for the Eagles will be 38 points. That would be two points shy of the only “bad” loss the Eagles endured all season, a 40-34 beatin’ at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys on December 24th and three more points than any other team in the NFL scored against the tough Philly defense the rest of the season. (Detroit Lions lost 38-35 on opening day in September).

The general thought, however, is for Philadelphia’s defense to limit Kelce to one score and to hold the KC backfield so tight, they might come up empty. If Mahomes tweeks the injured right ankle, the Chiefs will be in big trouble as he’ll try to gut-it-out, as he did during KC’s playoff win against the Buffalo. The difference, the Philly D and pass rush schemes will counter and be too much for KC to handle.

That’s all the Big GameDay prognostication from WWYI, except, oh yeah: This is the first time two African American QBs will meet in the Super Bowl AND the Kelce Family will need to watch both All Pro TE Travis (KC) and Philly offensive lineman Jason go at it! (Bet you hadn’t heard that, eh?)

Remember, though! Limit turnovers, take care of the ball! What else is new?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Whether you head down AZ-101 or brave the traffic and veer over to I-17, the road from Glendale and the Super Bowl to North Scottsdale and the Tournament Players Club, is filled with drama. Scottsdale, the site of the WM Phoenix Open, is golf with NOISE! You can hear the fans roaring all over the course, but none better (or worse, depending how you look at it) than the crowd of 20,000+ on No. 16 at The Stadium Course. … Scottie Scheffler (-13) and Jon Rahm (-11) are the top players on the leaderboard and they will play together with Canada’s Nick Taylor (-11) in the final round Sunday. TV coverage begins at 1:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and continues on CBS at 3:00pm (ET).

If you want to map your television viewing day, and avoid a few hours of the Super Bowl pregame coverage, here’s your TV sports guide (all times ET):

• 8:00am – WTA Tennis from Abu Dhabi (Tennis Channel)
• 9:00am – Manchester United at Leeds (USA Network)
• 11:30am – Aston Villa at Manchester City (USA Network)
• Noon – Temple at Memphis men’s hoops (ESPN2)
• 1:00pm – You’ll want to tune-in to PGA Tour golf. (Golf Channel)
• 1:00pm – Michigan State at Ohio St. men’s hoops (CBS)
• 1:00pm – FOX NFL Today kicks-off 5.5 hours of pregame coverage
• 2:00pm – Memphis at Boston Celtics – (ABC)
• 3:00pm – The WM Phoenix Open switches from Golf Channel to CBS
• 6:30pm – The Super Bowl (FOX)

The Super Bowl halftime show looks promising with Rihanna headlining but the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick always has a beef.

TID-BITS: Shouldn’t Heinz be all over this particular Super Bowl? … I would with some serious “57 Varieties” guerrilla marketing, straight from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. … More Book Controversy in FLA … A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente is no longer on the shelves of public school libraries in Florida’s Duval County. “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter and Raúl Colón – and other books about Latino figures such as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia Sotomayor – are among more than 1 million titles that have been “covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County Public Schools District, pending “reviews” by State media specialists. … Simply Astonishing.

It’s about a month until BASEBALL. The World Baseball Classic will have qualifying pool play in Miami. Games will also be played in Taichung (Rep of China (Taiwan), Tokyo (Japan) and Phoenix. … Speaking of The Valley of the Sun and its busy week of hosting the WM Phoenix Open and nearby Glendale hosting the Super Bowl, the NBA and Phoenix Suns stole some of the buzz when the Suns acquired former NBA MVP Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets on the day of the NBA Trading Deadline. NBA pundits quickly speculated the Suns could be the team to beat in the NBA West, predicting the aging Durant can join with the (very) again point guard Chris Paul, center DeAndre Ayton and oft-injured but highly-talented Devin Booker to overtake the West’s No. 1 fave, the Denver Nuggets. … If so, Durant will need to shore-up his defensive game and Chris Paul will need to play out of his mind while the combo of Ayton-Booker must remain healthy until June.

Not long after LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a record many believed would never be approached, waived NBA and EuroLeague Basketball veteran Enes “Freedom” came down hard on James with a tweet which read: 38,388 Points 0 Morals 0 Values 0 Principles 0 Empathy 1 Bow Down to #China Congratulations to @KingJames – Ouch.

ALL THE FIXIN’S: Younes Rachidi, former tennis player from Morocco, was banned for life this week after being found guilty of 135 match-fixing offenses. The 135 thrown matches marked the highest number of match-fixing offenses by one person ever detected in the sport, according to the International Tennis Integrity Agency. Rachidi, who claimed his highest doubles ranking of No. 473, was banned from ever playing in, coaching or attending any tennis event sanctioned by governing bodies the ATP and WTA. He was fined only $34,000. Independent anti-corruption hearing officer Janie Soublière ruled that all charges against the 36-year-old Rachidi were proven. The International Tennis Integrity Agency said Rachidi was involved in match-fixing with two Algerian players who were recently banned following investigations in Belgium.

SUPER BOWL MENU: Here’s a glimpse for Feb 12 home tailgating menu – to be made prior to the 6:30pm (ET) kick-off.

• There will be a “Super” Dog Run for Penny (Lane) from 10am to 11am, it should tucker her out for a good portion of the afternoon, although she’ll keep me company out back – none too close to avoid injury or burns.
• PGA Tour Radio will be on; Skip and Shannon Sharpe will not be on.
• The Traeger Timberline will be brought out of the bullpen and into action after a good cleaning and vacuuming of old ash.
• Two (2) Lobster Tails will be smoked and grilled, along with some Sirloin Steak Tips.
• Breast of Chicken will be perfectly sliced into long strips, seasoned with the special Traeger rub for Poultry, aligned with some green, red, yellow and orange peppers and wrapped with Kayem THICK Bacon strips. They will be grilled and smoked, then readied for a warm-up later in the afternoon.
• Various vegetables will be smoked and grilled, including some asparagus and Tri-color carrots. Raw Celery, Cucumber strips, raw carrots, along with steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower tips will be readied for special onion dip or Marie’s Dressing.
• The drinks of choice will be Sunday morning percolated Coffee and then Diet Coke on ice. Diet Coke consumption will come to an abrupt halt very soon, to be replaced by Iced Tea all spring and summer long.
• The late evening just might see some Pizza.

PARTING WORDS & MUSIC: This week, we lost a giant in the world of music.

Burt Bacharach (1928-2023) passed away Wednesday, February 8th. His work, together with his collaboration with lyricist Hal David (1921-2012) and vocalist Dionne Warwick (born: Marie Dionne Warrick) will forever hail as one of the all-time great entertainment combinations in history.

Yes, it was Bacharach’s death and he should be respected, but the memories of the great Dionne Warwick performing the Bacharach-penned songs and with many lyrics written by David rise to the forefront of musical history. There are more hit songs and ever-lasting themes than can be listed in this notebook. The memories are endless, as there was not a weekend that I can remember growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s, that a Warwick/Bacharachcomposition was not glowing from the living room stereo.

Here’s a sampling/medley, certainly a MUST WATCH.

Bacharach also wrote one of the most memorable movie scores to a classic scene in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Ray Stevens was the first choice to record the song, lyrics by David of course, but he passed. The assignment went to the late B.J Thomas.(1942-2021) and he brought it home with Bacharach and David, complete with two Academy Awards, for best Original Song in a motion picture and best music score for a film. The film was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Midnight Cowboy. Thomas, in 2014, was awarded a Grammy and inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame. The late and legendary Burt Bacharach made it all happen. Rest in Peace.

Another Must Watch:

TL

The post TL’s Super Sunday Notes | Feb 12th appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

GLENDALE – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – Patrick Mahomes is on the verge of becoming the youngest quarterback to start three Super Bowls, but the Kansas City Chiefs star is more interested in becoming the 13th to earn multiple Super Bowl rings.

Mahomes will be playing in his third Super Bowl in the past four campaigns, and his task on Sunday is to solve the dominant defense of the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII in Arizona.

Philadelphia has been backed by 67 percent of the spread-line bets and 68 percent of the handle at BetMGM. The action was similar at BetRivers to begin the week before more money started flowing in on the Chiefs, with the Eagles now drawing 58 and 51 percent, respectively.

Mahomes will be 27 years, 148 days old when he takes the field but is already viewed as an NFL great. He is 1-1 in previous Super Bowls, having beaten the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV and lost 31-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV one year later.

Philadelphia’s defense, ranked second in the regular season at 301.5 yards allowed per game, will be swimming like sharks around Mahomes.

The Eagles have racked up 78 sacks during the regular season and postseason. That is third-most all-time behind the mid-1980s Chicago Bears, who had a record 82 in 1984 and 80 in 1985.

Philadelphia will look to corral Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who ranks second all-time in postseason receptions (127) and receiving yardage (1,467) and is tied for second with Rob Gronkowski with 15 postseason touchdown grabs. Jerry Rice leads in all three categories.

Kelce is part of a juicy storyline as he and older brother Jason (the Eagles’ center) will become the first set of brothers to play against one another in Super Bowl history. Both Kelces already own a Super Bowl ring, but Travis is 3-0 in matchups against Jason.

“Whoever wins this one will have the ultimate bragging rights,” Jason Kelce said.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid is looking for his second Super Bowl ring as he faces the organization that fired him in 2012 after 14 seasons. Reid ranks second all-time in postseason victories (21) behind Bill Belichick (31).

The 64-year-old has tried to swat away “Andy Reid Bowl” questions all week. He reached five NFC title games with the Eagles but just one Super Bowl, a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Also a hot topic is whether the Chiefs can stamp themselves as a dynasty with a second Super Bowl win in four seasons. Reid, not surprisingly, has no interest in the subject.

“I’m not really into all that,” Reid said. “It’s important in our world as coaches and players that you try to get better every day. You’re only as good as your last game, or your next game, I should say. We’re striving to focus on this thing and try not to worry about all that stuff.”

The quarterback matchup between Mahomes and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts is noteworthy, marking the first Super Bowl in which each team has a Black starting quarterback.

Only three Black quarterbacks have won a Super Bowl: Doug Williams (Super Bowl XXII), Russell Wilson (Super Bowl XLIX) and Mahomes.

“It’s not about me. It’s about the team,” the multi-dimensional Hurts said. “Football is the ultimate team game, and you can’t have one player with the belief that he can succeed without the others around him.”

The Eagles have held steady as a consensus 1.5-point favorite after the spread reached as high as 3.0 points at some major sportsbooks.

PROP PICKS
–Hurts Over 10.5 Rushing Attempts (+100 at BetMGM): This has received the most total bets among player props at the sportsbook. Hurts has averaged 11.5 carries over the past four games. That includes 11 against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game despite the Eagles being in control much of the game. The offseason begins Monday, so look for Philadelphia to use Hurts’ legs to the fullest as it attempts to keep the Chiefs’ defense off balance.

–Travis Kelce Anytime TD (-124 at BetRivers): Kelce has three touchdowns in two playoff games already and will be coveted safety blanket against the Eagles’ ferocious pass rush. Him scoring at least one touchdown on Sunday leads the sportsbook’s player props with 4.5 percent of the total money. Kelce is also among the top 10 most popular plays to score twice, which has drawn 1.3 percent of the money at +575.

–Josh Sweat Over 0.75 Sacks (+110 at DraftKings): Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick has been on an absolute tear with 3.5 sacks in the playoffs following 16 during the regular season. But his -180 odds at Over 0.25 sacks doesn’t portend a great potential payout. With the Chiefs having to prioritize protection Mahomes against Reddick on obvious passing downs, there should be plenty of opportunity for Sweat, who set a career high with 11.0 sacks during the regular season and racked up another 1.5 in the playoff-opening win against the Giants.

INJURY REPORT
The right ankle injury Mahomes sustained against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 21 is healing, but he won’t be 100 percent against the Eagles.

“You won’t know exactly how it is until you get to game day,” Mahomes said this week. “I mean, I definitely move around better than I was moving last week or two weeks ago. So it’s just trying to continue to get the treatment and the rehab and get it as close to 100 percent and then rely on some adrenaline to let me do a little bit extra when I’m on the field.”

The Chiefs overall have a clean bill of health, while the Philadelphia Eagles listed only one player, wide receiver and return specialist Britain Covey, on the final injury report ahead of the game.

Covey (hamstring) popped up for the first time Thursday, was limited for two straight days and was listed Friday as questionable for the game.

An undrafted rookie, Covey has rarely seen snaps on offense but serves as Philadelphia’s punt returner. He also returned kicks in Weeks 4, 8, 9 and 10. Covey fielded 33 punts in the regular season for 308 yards with a long of 27. He averaged 9.3 yards.

If Covey can’t play, the Eagles may need to turn to the likes of speedy former Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith as a replacement punt returner.

Friday’s news was good for Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who appeared on Thursday’s injury report as a limited participant with a knee issue. The Chiefs said Sneed practiced in full on Friday and gave him no game status designation.

That’s not to say Kansas City is at perfect attendance. Earlier in the week, it placed wide receiver Mecole Hardman on injured reserve with a pelvic injury, taking him out of the equation for the Super Bowl.

But that allowed the Chiefs to activate running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (ankle) from IR in a corresponding move, and two other wide receivers with previous injury concerns — JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Kadarius Toney (ankle, hamstring) — are cleared to play Sunday.

PREDICTION
The NFL might be an offensive league in this era, but most of the recent Super Bowl champions have sported the superior defense. The Chiefs lack a real threat in the backfield, which will force them to rely on the short passing game as a complement to help thwart that pass rush. The Eagles bring more offensive balance to the equation along with variety in the red zone that will pay off in crunch time. –Eagles 28, Chiefs 26

–Field Level Media

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PHOENIX – If Super Bowl LVII were being played Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs would be looking thin at wide receiver. But the game against the Philadelphia Eagles isn’t until Feb. 12, giving Mecole Hardman, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney more time to heal in hopes of playing in the big game.

Hardman (pelvis), Smith-Schuster (knee) and Toney (ankle, hamstring) did not practice this week. The Chiefs’ estimated game status report marked Hardman as doubtful and the other two as questionable.

NFL Network reported Thursday that Hardman was seeking second opinions on his injury to see if there was a way he could play. Hardman missed the second half of the regular season with the injury and was brought back in time for the AFC Championship Game, where he was able to play just 15 offensive snaps.

Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (concussion) and linebacker Willie Gay (shoulder) were also estimated as questionable. Sneed hasn’t practiced this week while Gay was limited each day.

For the Eagles, cornerback Avonte Maddox was among those who sat out practice Friday due to a toe injury.

Maddox was seen wearing a boot on his left foot at practice, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Eagles are holding him out as a precautionary measure and he will be able to play in the Super Bowl.

Maddox has been in and out of the lineup with injuries this season. He missed four games in November and early December when a hamstring injury sent him to injured reserve.

He suffered what was reported to be a “significant” toe injury Christmas Eve against the Dallas Cowboys and missed the final two regular-season games, plus Philadelphia’s divisional round win over the New York Giants. He returned for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game and had three tackles, one for a loss.

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KANSAS CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – Harrison Butker kicked the Kansas City Chiefs back to the NFL Super Bowl.

Butker made a 45-yard field goal with three seconds remaining and the Chiefs beat the visiting Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to win the AFC Championship Game for the third time in the past four seasons on Sunday.

Patrick Mahomes had 326 passing yards and two touchdowns and set up the game-winning kick on a scramble to his right with eight seconds left in the game. As he crossed the sideline, Mahomes was shoved by Joseph Ossai, resulting in a 15-yard penalty to set up Butker’s game-winning kick.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, tight end Travis Kelce caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown and Kansas City’s defense had two interceptions and five sacks of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

In a 20-20 tie, Burrow and the Bengals took over at their own 12-yard line with 2:30 to play, but defensive tackle Chris Jones’ second sack of the game forced Cincinnati to punt to rookie Skyy Moore, who caught the ball at the 18 with 35 seconds left and returned it to Kansas City’s 47.

The Bengals pounced on their first takeaway and recovered momentum in the final minute of the third quarter. From the shotgun, Mahomes faked a handoff to Isiah Pacheco but as he twisted his body to the right, he lost control of the ball. Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard came up with the ball at Kansas City’s 45.

The drive appeared to stall quickly but the Bengals went for it on fourth-and-6, and Burrow went deep for WR Ja’Marr Chase, who hauled the ball in at the 6. Two plays later, running back Samaje Perine churned into the end zone for a 2-yard score and knotted the game at 20 with 13:30 remaining.

A hobbled Mahomes operated most of the second half without multiple key receivers due to injuries. He found Valdes-Scantling one step into the center of the end zone to put the Chiefs up 20-13, hooking up on third-and-10 for a 19-yard touchdown with 4:15 left in the third quarter. The 11-play drive covered 77 yards and was extended on a 7-yard connection to Valdes-Scantling on the previous third down.

Higgins hauled in 27-yard touchdown from Burrow to the tie the game at 13. On third-and-6, Burrow lofted a pass to the front, right corner of the end zone where Higgins elevated over Chiefs rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson for the score.

Three of Kansas City’s top receivers — Mecole Hardman (pelvis), Kadarius Toney (ankle) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) — exited with injuries in the first half.

Evan McPherson connected on his second field goal as time expired in the second quarter to bring the Bengals within seven points, 13-6.

Burrow was sacked four times before his fifth completion in the first half and faced constant pressure in the pocket. He was picked off three plays after the Chiefs jumped ahead 13-3 with 3:53 left in the second quarter.

On a fourth-and-1 rollout, Kelce caught his 15th career postseason TD, which tied him for second all-time with Rob Gronkowski.

–Field Level Media

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PHILADELPHIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) –  Miles Sanders rushed for two touchdowns, Haason Reddick delivered a huge performance and the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl after posting a 31-7 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Jalen Hurts passed for 121 yards and rushed for a touchdown as the top-seeded Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in five years and fourth overall. Boston Scott tacked on a rushing score while Reddick had two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Second-seeded San Francisco was left without firepower after rookie quarterback Brock Purdy injured his right elbow in the first quarter after a blow from Reddick. He later re-entered the game in the third quarter after backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion.

Purdy was 4-of-4 passing for 23 yards but threw just two short passes after returning despite the 49ers facing a large deficit. Johnson completed 7 of 13 passes for 74 yards and Christian McCaffrey rushed for 84 yards and one score.

Philadelphia outgained San Francisco 269 to 164. The Eagles will face either the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.

The Eagles drove 66 yards on 11 plays on their first drive with Sanders ending it with a 6-yard scoring run.

On the sixth play after San Francisco took over, Reddick slammed into Purdy’s right arm. The ball slipped out of Purdy’s hand and was knocked up field by his wrist before being recovered by Philadelphia’s Linval Joseph at the Eagles’ 44-yard line.

Johnson took over on San Francisco’s next possession when Purdy determined he couldn’t throw the ball.

The 49ers tied the game in the second quarter when McCaffrey powered his way to a 23-yard touchdown run.

The Eagles regained the lead when Sanders rumbled through a big hole on a 13-yard run with 1:36 left.

On San Francisco’s next possession, Johnson took his eyes off a shotgun snap and dropped the ball, and Reddick recovered at the 49ers’ 30. Three plays later, Scott scored on a 10-yard run to give Philadelphia a 21-7 advantage 16 seconds before halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Johnson threw an incomplete pass and hit his head on the turf after a hit from Philadelphia’s Ndamukong Suh. He exited the game. Purdy finished the drive with a handoff and then returned for San Francisco’s next offensive drive.

The 49ers went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles. Philadelphia received help from a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty while driving 91 yards on 15 plays, with Hurts scoring on a 1-yard keeper to make it 28-7 with 43 seconds left in the period.

Jake Elliott added a 31-yard field goal with 5:17 left in the game.

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