Super Bowl LVII Matchup Set After AFC, NFC Championships
Philadelphia and Kansas City punched their tickets to Arizona on Sunday.
The stage for Super Bowl LVII is now officially set following Championship Sunday, with the Chiefs and Eagles punching their tickets for a shot at the Lombardi Trophy following wins over the Bengals and 49ers, respectively.
Super Bowl LVII will take place in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12, and mark the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons and the Eagles’s first appearance in five years. The marquee matchup will also be the first in NFL history to feature two Black starting quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts—who combine for the youngest age for two starting quarterbacks in Super Bowl history—and a pair of brothers in Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Mahomes and the Chiefs claimed their latest AFC championship in front of their fans at Arrowhead Stadium in what was their fifth consecutive conference title game appearance. Kansas City staved off a hungry Cincinnati team looking to return to its second straight Super Bowl, 23–20, with a 45-yard Harrison Butker field goal following a critical Bengals unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit on Mahomes–who shined despite playing with a high ankle sprain.
For Hurts and the Eagles, a 31–7 NFC championship victory over San Francisco at Lincoln Financial Field earlier in the day added a punctuation to a year where few teams gave them any real trouble. Philadelphia’s dominant defense held the Niners, who played most of the game without starter Brock Purdy (elbow), in check while Hurts steadied the offense en route to a huge home win of their own.
Entering the postseason as the AFC’s top seed, the Chiefs (14–3) turned in another remarkable year under Andy Reid, who will coach in his fifth Super Bowl (1–3) against a team he previously led for 14 seasons. Mahomes, who’s in line to win his second MVP award after a career year, and Kelce again headlined the NFL’s top-scoring offense led by coordinator Eric Bieniemy while All-Pro pass rusher Chris Jones captained a formidable defense helmed by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Representing the NFC as the top seed, the Eagles (14–3) and second-year coach Nick Sirianni ran roughshod over the conference just one year removed from a 9–8 campaign that ended in the wild card round. Hurts, in just his third season, elevated his name into the MVP conversation as the leader of the league’s third-highest scoring offense, under coordinator Shane Steichen, filled with playmakers such as A.J. Brown, Miles Sanders and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles also boast a physical, ball-hawking defense, anchored by Pro Bowler Haason Reddick, that led the league in sacks and ranked second in yards allowed per game under coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
While it remains to be seen how the battle of the NFL’s best teams plays out, it’ll be interesting to see how Reid and Sirianni approach the contest after previously meeting in the regular season two years ago. Mahomes and Hurts combined for 665 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception in a 43–20 Chiefs win.
Super Bowl LVII will take place inside State Farm Stadium, the home of the Cardinals and site of the Fiesta Bowl, on Feb. 12. Coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on Fox with kickoff scheduled for 6;30 p.m. ET.