The stage is now set for Super Bowl 57. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Kansas City Chiefs for all the marbles. But this matchup is deeper than just two random teams from two different conferences. There are too many storylines surrounding this matchup.
The Reid-Eagles era
First off, let’s acknowledge the fact that the Eagles will be facing one of the greatest coaches in franchise history for both the Chiefs and the Eagles. Andy Reid is beloved in Philadelphia but he will now be standing on the opposite sideline of the birds.
Reid spent fourteen years as the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. During his tenure, the Eagles played in 19 playoff games and ended with a record of 10 wins and 9 losses. They made it to five conference championships with only one of them resulting in a Super Bowl appearance.
Unfortunately, the Eagles lost to the Patriots in a heartbreaker. Even though Reid never won a title for Philly, the city and fans still embraced Reid like one of their own but all of that will change on February 12th.
Battle of the MVP finalists
While it seems to be all but guaranteed that Patrick Mahomes will win his second MVP award on February 9th, the Eagles have a player on their side that is more deserving of that accolade.
Jalen Hurts not only put up MVP numbers but he leads his team to an 8-0 start and was 14-1 as their starter despite missing two games toward the end of the season. Nobody has been more disrespected than Jalen Hurts has and Mahomes winning this award could further fuel that desires to win it all for Hurts.
While Mahomes has been the best QB in the league by far, Hurts has been the best player in the league, period. With both of the top MVP finalists battling in the Super Bowl, it will be interesting to see who has the edge early on in Arizona.
The underdogs are back
Make no doubt about it, the Eagles will not be the team that the majority of NFL fans pick to win although they are 1-point favorites to win in Vegas. The flashy Chiefs will be favored one way or another which would just add to the storyline that has followed the Eagles all season long, they’re not good enough.
It doesn’t matter who Philadelphia beat and how they did it. What matters is the names of the teams that they face although a lot of “bad” teams digested “good” teams this season but only two of them beat the Eagles.
While this will be the narrative, Philadelphia will still approach this game without fear and with full belief in who they are and that’s all they need. Because that is what brought them to the ultimate level in the NFL.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
