The Chiefs try to turn into the primary crew to win three straight Tremendous Bowls as they face the Eagles.
NEW ORLEANS — Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are pursuing historical past and some of Taylor Swift’s information. Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles stand of their manner.
The 2025 Tremendous Bowl is underway, listed here are stay updates:
SCORE UPDATE: Eagles 24, Chiefs 0
One other further level is nice and Philadelphia is up 24-0 with 1:35 left within the first half.
TOUCHDOWN: Hurts throws TD go to AJ Brown
The Eagles are rolling, with Hurts and AJ Brown connecting on a 12-yard TD go.
SCORE UPDATE: Eagles 17, Chiefs 0
The kick is nice and Philadelphia is up 17-0 with 7:03 left within the first half.
TOUCHDOWN: Cooper DeJean scores on an interception return
Cooper DeJean has given Philadelphia a three-score lead, returning an interception 38 yards for a landing.
DeJean turned the primary participant to attain a Tremendous Bowl TD on his birthday.
Some dangerous information, and excellent news, for Chiefs followers
Properly, they’ve been right here earlier than.
The Chiefs path Philadelphia 10-0. That’s the dangerous information. Right here’s the excellent news: That is acquainted Tremendous Bowl territory for the AFC champions.
In every of their three Tremendous Bowl wins of the Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes period, the Chiefs trailed by precisely 10 factors earlier than rallying.
They trailed San Francisco by 10 earlier than profitable 31-20 on Feb. 2, 2020. They trailed Philadelphia by 10 earlier than profitable 38-35 on Feb. 12, 2023. And so they trailed San Francisco by 10 once more earlier than profitable 25-22 on Feb. 11, 2024.
There have been solely seven rallies from double-digit deficits in Tremendous Bowl historical past. The Chiefs have three of them. (There’s been just one from greater than 10 factors down, that being New England erasing a 28-3 deficit to stun the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 on Feb. 5, 2017.)
SCORE UPDATE: Eagles 10, Chiefs 0
A 48-yard area purpose from Eagles kicker Jake Elliott has put Philadelphia up 10-0 with 8:38 left within the second quarter.
Chiefs offense will get off to sluggish begin in Tremendous Bowl
Three drives and three punts for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs.
That’s solely occurred three different instances with Mahomes as a starter, together with a loss to New England within the 2018 AFC title recreation. Kansas Metropolis additionally did it in a loss to the Raiders on Christmas in 2023 and a Week 2 win over the Chargers in 2020.
Kansas Metropolis has tended to begin slowly on offense in Tremendous Bowls with the Chiefs scoring solely 33 first-half factors in comparison with 70 after halftime in 4 Tremendous Bowl appearances.
TOUCHDOWN: Hurts opens the scoring at Tremendous Bowl
Philadelphia has struck first within the Tremendous Bowl, with Jalen Hurts — because of the Eagles’ famed tush push, the place the offensive line simply bullies their manner into the tip zone and Hurts follows the gang — scoring the sport’s first landing.
The additional level after was good and Philadelphia leads 7-0 with 6:15 left within the first quarter.
That 1-yard rush by Hurts made him the fifth participant with 4 Tremendous Bowl speeding touchdowns in a profession.
Emmitt Smith has essentially the most, with 5. Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris, John Elway and now Hurts all have 4.
The primary large penalty of the sport went in Kansas Metropolis’s favor.
The Eagles had been going for it on fourth-and-2 from midfield and appeared to transform a 30-yard completion. However a flag got here out for Brown placing his hand on cornerback Trent McDuffie’s face, resulting in the questionable penalty.
A giant matter heading into the sport was perceived bias for officers in favor of the Chiefs. Commissioner Roger Goodell known as it “ridiculous” however these complaints will solely develop louder after that first penalty.
Chiefs defer, fifteenth straight Tremendous Bowl to open that manner
For the fifteenth straight Tremendous Bowl, the crew that received the opening coin toss of a Tremendous Bowl selected to defer.
Kansas Metropolis received the toss and gave Philadelphia the choice to begin with the ball. The Chiefs will get the ball to start the second half.
The one crew to decide on to begin a Tremendous Bowl with the ball after profitable the opening toss because the defer possibility was initiated within the 2008 season was the Saints in Tremendous Bowl 44 in opposition to Indianapolis.
The coin toss winner: Tails. (Sorry, Eagles followers.)
Travis Kelce known as tails. It by no means fails, as they are saying.
The Chiefs received the coin toss, in a foul omen for the Eagles.
In Philly’s previous Tremendous Bowl appearances, when the coin toss end result was tails, they misplaced.
The Chiefs (17-2) will attempt to turn into the primary crew to win three straight Tremendous Bowls once they face the Eagles (17-3) on Sunday within the Superdome.
It’s a rematch from two years in the past when Hurts almost led the Eagles to a championship solely to observe Mahomes snatch it away by rallying Kansas Metropolis to a 38-35 win on Harrison Butker’s 27-yard area purpose with 8 seconds left.
Mahomes lifted the Chiefs to an time beyond regulation win in opposition to San Francisco in one other Tremendous Bowl rematch final 12 months. Now, they’re poised for a three-peat, a phrase coach Andy Reid doesn’t use a lot.
“I believe the one time I’ve heard him say it’s to the media at any time when y’all ask him about it,” Mahomes stated. “He’s very locked in on simply, ‘How can we be nice with our cadence at this time at follow?’ in order that’s simply the stuff that Coach Reid focuses on.”
Reid received extra video games than any coach in franchise historical past throughout his 14 seasons in Philadelphia however couldn’t win the massive one, going 1-4 in NFC championship video games and shedding a Tremendous Bowl to the Patriots. He went proper to Kansas Metropolis after the Eagles fired him following the 2012 season and has constructed a dynasty because of Mahomes, Kelce, Chris Jones and others.
“You don’t have time to consider all that,” Reid stated of the three-peat. “You’re targeted in on the job at hand right here and that’s enjoying in opposition to an important Eagles crew.”
Jones, the three-time All-Professional defensive sort out, echoed his coach’s viewpoint.
“We don’t discuss no three-peat,” Jones stated. “I believe that’s what we’re right here for. We perceive that. We perceive there’s yet one more recreation till the offseason and we will do no matter we need to do. Our primary focus is ensuring we’re ready for the Eagles.”
It doesn’t matter what the Chiefs say, everybody else is speaking about it. No crew has achieved it within the Tremendous Bowl period, although the Inexperienced Bay Packers received an NFL championship in 1965 and adopted by profitable the primary two Tremendous Bowls. Kelce even began all of the three-peat discuss on stage final 12 months when he stated the crew’s purpose was to win three.
“That is gonna be our greatest take a look at but,” Kelce stated. “They acquired plenty of nice gamers however the greatest factor is that they play nice collectively. You possibly can see their communication. You possibly can see the accountability they’ve, particularly within the secondary. It’s not gonna make my job any simpler.”
These Eagles are completely different from the group that fell simply quick in opposition to Kansas Metropolis in Arizona two years in the past.
They’ve the NFL’s most dynamic participant within the backfield. Barkley rushed for two,447 yards with seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards within the common season and playoffs.
“The purpose has all the time been to win it, not simply to get right here,” Barkley stated.
Dropping to the Chiefs two years in the past solely motivated Hurts much more. He’s decided to hoist a Lombardi trophy and even had a photograph of him strolling off the sector with Kansas Metropolis’s purple and yellow confetti falling round him because the background on his cellphone.
“It’s had an important driving power,” Hurts stated of that loss. “It lit a flame, lit a fireplace in me, and to have this chance once more is strictly what you’re employed for.”
Hurts, Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and a dominant offensive line current a significant problem for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The Eagles even have the league’s No. 1-ranked protection, that includes eight new starters from 2022 and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
All-Professional linebacker Zack Baun and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean plus the emergence of defensive sort out Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith has reworked a defensive unit that fell aside final season.
“We’re lucky to have Steve Spagnuolo, however I let you know that Vic is a type of guys,” Reid stated. “He’s simply a type of actually inventive defensive minds that survived a very long time on this league. He’s been time-tested, and, he has the belief of his gamers.”
If the Chiefs win, Reid and Mahomes will likely be one step nearer to Invoice Belichick and Tom Brady. They’re midway to the six Belichick and Brady received collectively in New England and Mahomes continues to be 4 away from Brady’s seven rings.
“I’m attempting to be the best Patrick Mahomes that I could be. That’s clearly a purpose of anybody’s — to be the best at their career — however with a view to do this, you need to be the best that you could be each single day,” Mahomes stated.
“Every time I’m achieved with soccer, if I depart the whole lot on the market — the way in which that I really feel like I’ve thus far — so far as effort and mentality, I’ll be proud of the outcomes.”
A win for Kansas Metropolis additionally would give Kelce his fourth ring, the identical variety of Grammy Awards his pop star girlfriend has received for finest album. General, Kelce has 18 playoff wins and Swift has 14 Grammys.
“She’s up there being the celebrity that she is and by no means taking no for a solution and all the time working her tail off. I higher match that vitality for positive,” Kelce stated.
