NEW ORLEANS — It will be the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX (59) Sunday in New Orleans.
If this matchup seems familiar, it’s because it is. These teams met in the Super Bowl just two years ago. The Chiefs prevailed that year.
Here are three things to watch in Sunday’s game.
Chiefs aim for history
Kansas City will be trying to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. The “three-peat” hasn’t been done in the Super Bowl era, but the Green Bay Packers did it twice before that.
Vince Lombardi’s Packers won three straight NFL championships from 1965-67, but the first was before the Super Bowl. The 1929-31 Packers won three straight league championships before playoffs, when titles were based on record.
The excellence of Andy Reid
Andy Reid of the Chiefs got his NFL coaching start on Mike Holmgren’s staff with the Packers from 1992-98. Reid left to become the Eagles’ head coach.
He holds the franchise record for wins by a head coach for both of the teams in the Super Bowl. Reid is now only the fourth NFL head coach (Halas, Shula and Belichick) with over 300 career wins. This will be Reid’s 45th postseason game as a head coach, a new NFL record.
The difference of Barkley
Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley is the biggest difference in the Eagles’ offensive attack compared to two years ago in the Super Bowl.
Well over 2,000 yards rushing this season, Barkley is 30 yards away from the single-season all-time rushing record, when you combine the regular season and the playoffs.
There are three Wisconsin natives playing in this Super Bowl. Zack Baun from Brown Deer High School and the University of Wisconsin has had an outstanding season for the Eagles.
For the Chiefs, their roster includes Grantsburg’s Leo Chenal (who also played for the Badgers) and Brookfield’s Mike Caliendo.