Once the Super Bowl was set after the outcomes of the AFC and NFC championship games Jan. 26, the matchup received some groans from NFL fans, because it feels like we’ve seen this film before.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles faced off in the Super Bowl just two years ago. The 2023 game in Glendale, Arizona, featured a halftime show performance from Rihanna (and a pregnancy announcement).
Both teams entered the game on the heels of recent championship victories. The Chiefs had just won the Super Bowl in 2020 (the team’s first since 1970), and the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in 2018.
The game was the first Super Bowl to have two Black starting quarterbacks, with the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts facing the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. (2025 will be a rematch for the two quarterbacks.)
The Chiefs-Eagles matchup also marked the first time two brothers played against each other in the NFL championship game. Going into the game — just months before Taylor Swift entered the picture and made them both definite household names — Jason Kelce, a center for the Eagles, was seen as the patron saint of his team’s rough and tough “hungry dog” mentality. His younger brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was the suave, fashionable star player. (Essentially, the type to get his own reality dating show.)
Mom Donna Kelce wore the split jersey heard ’round the world, while Jason Kelce’s wife, Kylie Kelce, went to the game 38 weeks pregnant.
As for the game itself, the Chiefs emerged with a narrow victory. Going into the fourth quarter, the Eagles had a 27-21 lead over the Chiefs. But Mahomes delivered two touchdowns, and the game was tied with minutes on the clock. Kicker Harrison Butker made a 27-yard field goal to bring the final score to 38-35.
The Chiefs likely look back on the game as the start of their Super Bowl dominance. They again won the championship in 2024 and on Sunday they are looking to be the first NFL team to three-peat at the Super Bowl.
The Eagles, now without a retired Jason Kelce but with the addition of star running back Saquon Barkley, probably see it as an opportunity for revenge. (And of note: The Eagles are historically remembered as the team that spoiled the Patriots and Tom Brady’s potential three-peat, beating New England in 2018 between the Patriots’ two championship victories.)