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Super Bowl LVIII: KC vs SF in a Rematch

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Services Report) – There’s no need to check your eyes if Super Bowl LVIII has a familiar look. Just four years after the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers met in the big game, the two foes are back for a rematch in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 in Vegas.

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San Francisco took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter of that matchup on Feb. 2, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla., before the Chiefs scored 21 points to claim a 31-20 victory.

Kansas City also won last season’s Super Bowl, 38-35 over the Philadelphia Eagles. The franchise is 3-2 in Super Bowls, the first win coming in Super Bowl IV to cap the 1969 season.

The Chiefs qualified for this year’s game with Sunday’s 17-10 road victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Now they will look to become the first franchise to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the New England Patriots (2003 and 2004 seasons).

“Now we’re in the Super Bowl and the job’s not done,” Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “We got to go out there to Vegas and play a great team and see if we can go out there and get the Super Bowl.”

Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, will be making his fourth Super Bowl start. The only quarterbacks to start more are legends Tom Brady (10) and John Elway (five).

Chiefs coach Andy Reid will be coaching in his fifth Super Bowl, tied for third most with former Dallas Cowboys legend Tom Landry. Bill Belichick (nine) and Don Shula (six) are the only two to coach in more.

Meanwhile, the 49ers have been knocking on the championship door during Kyle Shanahan’s coaching tenure.

The loss to the Chiefs was the only time San Francisco made it to the Super Bowl under Shanahan. But the lead got away — just like it did when the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead when Shanahan was offensive coordinator for an epic meltdown in Super Bowl LI.

The 49ers were the top seed in the NFC this season and reached the Super Bowl with Sunday’s 34-31 comeback win over the Detroit Lions in the conference championship.

The feeling is that it is time for this version of the 49ers to win the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl title, and first since the 1994 season.

“There’s been unfinished business for a while,” Shanahan said after the win over the Lions. “Our team has been set up for this for a long time. It’s been a long year to get to this point.”

While the Chiefs possess arguably the best quarterback in the game in Mahomes and his 14-3 career postseason record, the 49ers have seen Brock Purdy go from Mr. Irrelevant as the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft to one of the most relevant signal-callers in the game.

Purdy (24 years, 46 days) will be the third-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl and has given San Francisco stability at the position.

Jimmy Garoppolo was the starter when the 49ers lost to the Chiefs four years ago, and the organization thought it would be better served using the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 on Trey Lance. That decision turned out to be a colossal blunder, but Purdy saved the day with his emergence and is already a bona fide star.

Both teams have star tight ends (Travis Kelce for the Chiefs, George Kittle for the 49ers) and an upper-echelon pass rusher (Chris Jones for the Chiefs, Nick Bosa for the 49ers).

San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey is one of the NFL’s top all-around running backs, while few backs run harder than Kansas City’s Isiah Pacheco.

Both teams have celebrity fans who can’t wait to hit the Las Vegas Strip while using their best moves and distractions to avoid the crush of paparazzi. But only one of these teams (the Chiefs) has Taylor Swift cheering for them.

But it won’t turn into “Swift Week” leading up to the big game, as Kelce’s girlfriend won’t be anywhere near Vegas until the eve of the contest. She will be serenading Kelce with “You Belong With Me” from Tokyo with four straight concerts scheduled from Feb 7-10.

So, let the Super Bowl hype begin.

–Field Level Media

NFL Playoffs: Sunday Night Preview

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Sunday Night Game – January 21

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Kansas City Chiefs (12-6) at Buffalo Bills (12-6)

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are in the unfamiliar position of playing on the road in January. Mahomes, 12-3 for his career in the playoffs, can reach the conference championship for a record-tying sixth consecutive season by knocking off Josh Allen and the Bills. Their previous playoff matchup was an epic, back-and-forth fight the Chiefs won (42-36) in overtime in the 2021 AFC Divisional Playoffs on Jan. 23, 2022. Mahomes’ lone visit to play the Bills occurred during the 2020 season when stadiums were empty due to COVID-19. Kansas City won 26-17. Since that contest, the Chiefs and Bills have met five times, all in Kansas City over a span of 34-plus months. The Chiefs twice eliminated the Bills from the playoffs — 38-24 in the 2020 season AFC title game and the OT victory the following season. But Buffalo’s 20-17 win this season at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 10 proved big, eventually leading to the Bills being the No. 2 seed and relegating Kansas City to No. 3. A critical matchup in that game and this one: Chiefs CB L’Jarius Snead against Bills WR Stefon Diggs. Diggs caught only one of his three passes in the December game with Snead in coverage and it went for 3 yards. If Bills QB Allen gets to meet Mahomes postgame wearing a smile Sunday night, he’ll likely have a lot to do with the outcome. Allen has thrived in the postseason with three-plus TD passes and a passer rating of at least 90 in four of his past five playoff games. He’s no slouch facing Mahomes, either. Allen has 17 TDs (15 passing) and three INTs in six career games against the Chiefs. Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo expects the Bills to focus on mismatches they can create with a pair of talented tight ends, Dawson Knox and rookie Dalton Kincaid. Both had TDs in the wild-card win over the Steelers last week. Buffalo won’t be able to count on Chiefs-killer Gabe Davis, the wide receiver who caught four TDs in the 2021 playoffs at Arrowhead Stadium. He was ruled out with a knee injury.

–Field Level Media

Chiefs Face Christmas Challenge

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KANSAS CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Preview) – The Kansas City Chiefs don’t resemble a formidable football team with three games remaining in the regular season. However, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes insists there is still time to get into top form.

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Kansas City (9-5) is just one victory away from clinching its eighth straight AFC West title as it enters a Monday contest against the visiting Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs can also clinch if they tie the Raiders and the Denver Broncos lose to the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The Chiefs have lacked the consistency this season of some of their recent Mahomes-led squads, but the man who makes the offense go believes that can be turned around.

“You always want to be playing your best football going into the playoffs,” Mahomes said. “Let’s put that complete game together. I think if we can do that and start getting better and better these last few games, we can get to the playoffs and be playing our best football.

“Then I think the AFC is wide open and we’ll be able to go out there and try to find a way to get to the Super Bowl.”

Kansas City enters the weekend with the third-best record in the AFC behind the Baltimore Ravens (11-3) and the Miami Dolphins (10-4), so there is plenty of work to do in terms of home field advantage.

Standing in their way is a Las Vegas squad that set a franchise record for points with a 63-21 steamrolling of the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 14.

“We know it won’t be easy,” Mahomes said. “The Raiders are playing good football and they definitely want to beat us. And so we have to come in with the mentality that we’re gonna play our best game and have our best week of practice in order to go out there and win that game.”

Kansas City posted a 31-17 road win over the Raiders on Nov. 26 for their 18th victory in the past 21 meetings. Mahomes passed for 298 yards and two touchdowns.

But Las Vegas is well-rested and should be full of confidence after the wipeout of the Chargers.

Raiders cornerback Jack Jones went the bravado route while expressing that the Kansas City receivers are not a concern.

“We’re not worried about them,” Jones said. “It’s Patrick Mahomes we’ve got to stop. You stop the magician, then the act is over.”

Eagles Land Big Win at KC

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KANSAS CITY – Philly QB Jalen Hurts rushed for two touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the host Kansas City Chiefs 21-17 on Monday night in a Super Bowl rematch.

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D’Andre Swift rushed for a touchdown and had 107 scrimmage yards (76 rushing, 31 receiving) as the Eagles, who own the best record in the NFL at 9-1, won their fourth straight game. DeVonta Smith caught six passes for 99 yards, including a long one that set up the winning score.

Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdowns but also threw an interception and finished with just 177 passing yards. He completed 24 of 43 passes for the Chiefs (7-3). Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Justin Watson had touchdown receptions.

The Week 11 showdown was a rematch of the highly competitive Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs won the game 38-35 thanks to Harrison Butker’s game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining.

Hurts was 14-of-22 passing for 150 yards and one interception on Monday. He was harassed repeatedly in the first half when he was sacked five times, but the Eagles didn’t allow a sack in the second half.

Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie each had two sacks for the Chiefs. Kelce had seven receptions but just 44 yards.

Philadelphia moved ahead for the first time at 21-17 with 6:20 remaining.

The touchdown was set up by Hurts’ 41-yard pass to Smith to the Kansas City 1-yard line. The Eagles then called for the “Tush Push,” and Hurts received the usual extra help while plunging in for the score.

The Chiefs later took over from their 9-yard line with 2:49 remaining. Kansas City had second down from its 49-yard line when Mahomes threw deep but Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropped the pass despite being open inside the Philadelphia 5.

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Later in the possession, Mahomes’ pass on fourth-and-25 was incomplete and the Eagles took over with 1:28 left and ran out the clock.

The Eagles pulled within 17-14 when Hurts scored on a 10-yard keeper on third-and-5 with 4:05 left in the third quarter.

Mahomes threw two touchdowns to help the Chiefs hold a 17-7 halftime lead.

Kansas City got on the board when Mahomes tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to Watson with 5:34 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles knotted the score on Swift’s 4-yard run with 31 seconds remaining in the opening period.

The Chiefs scored 10 points in the final two minutes of the half. Mahomes hit Kelce on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 1:45 left and Butker booted a 43-yarder as time expired.

–Field Level Media

NFL: Chiefs “D” Beats Broncos

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KANSAS CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes passed for 306 yards and one touchdown and his Chiefs used a strong defensive performance on Thursday night to post a 19-8 victory over the visiting Denver Broncos.

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KC TE Travis Kelce caught nine passes for 124 yards as Kansas City (5-1) defeated the AFC West-rival Broncos for the 16th consecutive time. Kadarius Toney caught a touchdown pass and Isiah Pacheco accumulated 98 scrimmage yards (62 rushing, 36 receiving) as the Chiefs improved their overall winning streak to five games.

Harrison Butker kicked four field goals — including a 60-yarder — and Nick Bolton and Justin Reid intercepted passes for Kansas City.

Russell Wilson completed 13 of 22 passes for 95 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for Denver (1-5). Courtland Sutton had a scoring reception and Justin Simmons intercepted a pass for the Broncos.

Mahomes was 30-of-40 passing while improving to 12-0 in his starts against the Broncos. The Chiefs outgained Denver 389 to 197.

Kansas City led 13-0 at the break as Butker easily cleared the crossbar on his half-ending 60-yard boot. His career long of 62 occurred last season against the Buffalo Bills.

Butker added a 25-yard field goal with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

Denver finally got on the board with 6:07 remaining in the game when Wilson connected with Sutton on an 11-yard scoring pass and Javonte Williams added a two-point run to pull the Broncos within 16-8.

A roughing the passer penalty on Mike Edwards on third-and-five — when Wilson threw an incompletion — pushed the ball to the Chiefs’ 11-yard line one play before the touchdown.

Kansas City took over after the touchdown and worked 4:12 off the clock before Butker connected on a 52-yard field goal to make it an 11-point margin with 1:55 left.

Just 13 seconds later, Trent McDuffie forced Denver’s Samaje Perine to fumble, and Willie Gay recovered for the Chiefs to put the game away.

Earlier, Butker started the scoring with a 35-yard field goal with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter. The Chiefs scored their lone touchdown when Mahomes hit Toney on a 3-yard scoring pass with 3:06 left in the half.

–Field Level Media

NFL Thursday: KC Streaking vs. Denver

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The last time the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Denver Broncos, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a sophomore at Texas Tech. Kansas City began its dominance prior to Mahomes’ arrival and now looks to post its 16th straight victory over the visiting Broncos when the teams meet on Thursday night.

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Mahomes, a two-time MVP, is 11-0 as a starter against AFC West rival Denver. However, he said the streak doesn’t matter on game night.

“When you play a team like the Broncos, same with any division opponent, there’s just another level of intensity,” Mahomes said Tuesday. “I’m not worried about necessarily a streak or anything like that. I’m worried about winning against a division opponent. … It doesn’t matter what the records are. It’s gonna be a close game.”

The Chiefs (4-1) enter Thursday with a four-game winning streak while the Broncos (1-4) have been one of the worst teams in the NFL in Sean Payton’s first season as coach. Still, Denver quarterback Russell Wilson points to last season’s two meetings as evidence of his team being able to stick with Kansas City. The Chiefs won 34-28 at Denver and 27-24 at home in 2022.

“We had good battles against them last year, both of them came down to the wire,” Wilson said Tuesday. “It’s a great football team on their side and we have to play great football, we have to play clean. We’re going into a tough environment.”

The Broncos have been abysmal on defense this season and rank last in scoring defense (36.2 points per game), total defense (450.6 yards allowed per game) and rushing defense (187.6 yards allowed per game). Denver is the lone team to allow over 2,000 yards so far this season (2,253).

The Broncos have allowed a staggering 877 yards on the ground over the past four games. The New York Jets rushed for 234 yards — 177 by Breece Hall — in a 31-21 road win over Denver on Sunday.

“It’s going to be tough to win games if we can’t stop the run defensively, and we have to get it cleaned up,” Payton said.

Perhaps Kansas City’s hard-running Isiah Pacheco (325 rushing yards, three touchdowns) is in line for a big game.

Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce is aiming to play on Thursday. He sprained his right ankle on Sunday in Kansas City’s 27-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis. He missed practice Monday and was limited Tuesday.

Kelce caught 10 passes against the Vikings — five before he hurt the ankle late in the first half and five during a single third-quarter drive after returning to action. He caught a touchdown pass to end that excursion.

Mahomes expects Kelce to answer the bell on Thursday night.

“That’s a legendary type game,” Mahomes said of Kelce’s performance at Minnesota. “I mean, to be able to battle through that. I didn’t see the injury live, so I didn’t know how bad it was, but looking back at it now and seeing how the ankle rolled and then being able to come back out there and play at a high level and score a touchdown that we needed to win the game — it speaks to not only the talent that he has, but the toughness that he has.”

The Broncos began the 21-day window to activate tight end Greg Dulcich from injured reserve on Tuesday. Payton said Dulcich, who injured his hamstring in the season opener, is “close” to being ready for activation. Dulcich was limited during Tuesday’s practice.

Denver defensive tackle D.J. Jones (knee) and outside linebacker Frank Clark (illness) missed practice on Tuesday. Among the five Broncos who joined Dulcich as limited were safety Justin Simmons (hip) and center Lloyd Cushenberry III (quadriceps).

Joining Kelce as limited during the Chiefs’ Tuesday practice were linebacker Nick Bolton (ankle) and defensive end George Karlaftis (hamstring).

–Field Level Media

Chiefs Max-Out Super Second Half

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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.

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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

Super Bowl LVII Preview

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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

Injuries a Factor for Super Bowl Week

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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.

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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.

 

Butker Kicks KC Chiefs to Super Bowl

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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.

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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