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Super Bowl LIX: Four burning questions ahead of Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs showdown
Super Bowl LIX sees the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs contest the NFL’s biggest game for the second time in three years when they meet on Sunday evening in New Orleans.
Patrick Mahomes and their Chiefs edged a thriller 38-35 in Arizona back in February 2023, and another close encounter is expected this time.
DAZN News takes a look at four burning questions ahead of this weekend’s mouthwatering clash.
Will the Chiefs be able to stop Saquon Barkley?
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Let’s start with what could be the game’s deciding factor.
Freshly minted NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley has followed up his 2,000-yard regular season with three big playoff games, racking up totals of 119, 205 and 118 yards against the Packers, Rams and Commanders respectively, running in five touchdowns.
That made it five straight 100-yard games for the former New York Giant, but in a case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, the Chiefs defense has not allowed a 100-yard rusher for 18 straight games.
Of all the battles that will be going on across the pitch, this is one the hardest to call.
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Can Philadelphia put the game beyond Patrick Mahomes’ reach?
If the Eagles are to win their second Vince Lombardi Trophy, they will need to make sure this one is dead and buried by the fourth quarter.
Patrick Mahomes has come back three times from double-digit deficits in the Super Bowl, with the only blot on his copybook the 31-9 Super Bowl LV defeat to Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which saw Mahomes playing behind a dreadful offense line.
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That’s a mind-boggling stat, considering all other quarterbacks in that situation are 4-48 in the Super Bowl. Mahomes also has a perfect 7-0 record for game-tying or go-ahead drives in the final minute of the regulation or overtime in the playoffs. Again, a barely believable level of clutch play.
All of which means, if this game is remotely close in the final few minutes, that feeling of Chiefs inevitability will again take hold.
For the Eagles, that means they must wrestle control of the football and time of possession to keep their defense fresh and Mahomes off the field as much as possible.
Will the Eagles health be a factor?
The Super Bowl comes at the end of a long, bruising season and the Eagles are more bear up than their opponents.
Philadelphia have been battling offensive line issues in recent weeks, with guard Landon Dickerson and his backup Tyler Steen playing through the pain in the NFC Championship game win over the Commanders, while center Cam Jurgens has also been struggling with a back injury.
Jurgens and Dickerson’s importance in the Eagles running game cannot be overstated, especially as Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is likely to dip into his big bag of blitzes in an effort to slow down Barkley.
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Philadelphia are also dealing with an illness that has swept through the camp, with foundational defensive line piece Jalen Carter limited in practice due to an undisclosed illness, while defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has said ‘four or five’ players are suffering. Reports have claimed rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has been suffering from laryngitis.
It would no doubt take a significant illness to stop anyone playing, but could it mean the Eagles are compromised on both sides of the ball this weekend?
Will it come down to the kickers?
If the Eagles and Chiefs deliver the close game that many are expecting, the fate of the Lombardi Trophy could lie with the boot of either Jake Elliott or Harrison Butker.
Chiefs kicker Butker has been there and got the t-shirt, winning three Super Bowl titles with Kansas City and holds the record for the most career field goals in the Super Bowl with nine, plus the game’s longest successful attempt, when he converted a 57-yarder against the San Francisco 49ers a year ago.
Eight-year veteran Elliott doesn’t quite have that resume, but did win Super Bowl LII as a rookie, when he had a somewhat erratic game for the Eagles against the Patriots, missing his first two extra points, but nailing all three of his field goal attempts.
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