For the second time in three years, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will jockey for football’s ultimate prize: the Vince Lombardi Trophy, handed to the winner of the Super Bowl. This installment, the 59th Super Bowl in NFL history, will either see the Chiefs become the first-ever “three-peat” champion in the modern era, or the Eagles claim their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Neither Philadelphia nor Kansas City would be here without their star quarterbacks. This is the most important position on the field; both the Chiefs and the Eagles have identified, drafted, and developed elite players under center. Philly‘s Jalen Hurts and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes have grown under high-level coaching and have been tested in battle over the past several seasons in advance of their next meeting, inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Mahomes and Hurts get it done through the air, on the ground
Hurts and Mahomes have met three times between the NFL’s regular season and playoffs. Mahomes has a 2-1 record against Hurts, including a thrilling 38-35 comeback win in Super Bowl LVII at the end of the 2022 season. In those three meetings, Mahomes has thrown for 637 yards and 10 touchdowns against two interceptions with a 69 percent completion rate; Hurts has a 68 percent completion rate in three games against Mahomes’ Chiefs, with three touchdown passes to one interception.
Where Hurts has a slight advantage over Mahomes is on the ground, especially when the Eagles perform their famed “tush push” play in short-yardage situations. Hurts, 26, rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, with an additional 76 yards and two rushing touchdowns in those two regular season meetings. Mahomes has not had quite as much success against the Eagles’ run defense; the 29-year-old has never scored a rushing touchdown against Philly, though he has accrued 108 rushing yards from 17 attempts.
Playing behind the Eagles’ elite offensive line, Hurts shook over the turnover troubles that plagued him throughout 2023 and delivered a bounceback season for the NFC champions. In the regular season, Hurts put up a career-high 68.7 percent completion rate and accounted for 32 total touchdowns as the Eagles grabbed the NFC’s #2 seed; the two-time Pro Bowl selection led three fourth-quarter comebacks and posted his fourth successive season with at least 10 rushing touchdowns.
In three postseason games this January, Hurts has thrown for three touchdowns with zero interceptions and added four further scores on the ground; in the NFC title game, Hurts threw for 246 yards and grabbed four total touchdowns as the Eagles blew out the Washington Commanders, 55-23, to seal passage to New Orleans.
In Kansas City, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a share of the NFL’s best record and continued his streak of winning the AFC West division title in each of his seasons as a starter. After struggling in the opening weeks of 2024, Mahomes also set a new personal best in completion percentage (67.5) while tossing 28 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. The three-time Super Bowl champion was not always at his dazzling best in the regular season, but he led five fourth-quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives, adding further to his legend of seeming invincibility when the stakes are at their highest.
To that last point, Mahomes has turned the ball over only once in two playoff games — against the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s AFC title game, he accrued three total touchdowns (one passing/two rushing) as Kansas City came back to win, 32-29, and advance to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season.