By Stephen Ur –
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in five years. This time around, they will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. The game is set to kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Heading into the game, however, there are many talking points surrounding the Chiefs, the main one being that quarterback Patrick Mahomes is still dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered in the Divisional Round win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“He’s an amazing guy. Half of it is how strong he is in the mind,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said of Mahomes after Wednesday’s practice. “He wills himself to do things and doesn’t give himself any excuses. You saw it [today]. You saw him roll to the right, roll to the left, taking snaps from under center. All the things that are a little tougher. I thought he did well.”
Despite his sprained ankle, Mahomes, along with the entire team, was listed as a “full participant” in practice. Other injured players include wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuester [knee] and Kadaruis Toney [ankle], linebacker Willie Gay [shoulder] and cornerback L’Jarius Snead [concussion].
Kansas City’s defense could be their downfall in this game as they have two rookie corners going against two of the top 10 receiving yard leaders in Philadelphia Eagles wide receivers AJ Brown, who they acquired in a trade from the Tennessee Titans during the 2022 NFL Draft, and Devonta Smith.
As far as the run game, the Chiefs will rely on there defensive line led by Chris Jones, who finished third in the league in sacks, to stop the Eagles run game that includes not just Miles Sanders and Boston Scott, but also the running of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
On the other side, the Chiefs offensive line will have their hands full protecting Mahomes as they will be going against the league leader in sacks in Hassan Reddick as well as Fletcher Cox and Josh Sweat.
In some of the most stories talked about off the field, this will be the first Super Bowl in which brothers go against one another on the field. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will go against his brother, Eagles center Jason Kelce.
This will also be Andy Reid going against his former team. He coached the Philadelphia Eagles for 13 seasons, leading them to three consecutive NFC Championship games from 2002-2004 and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.
If the Chiefs win Sunday, it will be the franchise’s third and second in five seasons.
Crime Trackers New York / New Jersey 