With the 2025 Pro Bowl Games in the books, we are only six days away from Super Bowl LIX where the Kansas City Chiefs will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana.
There was no shortage of interesting stories during Conference Championship weekend. We got to see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes face and defeat the Buffalo Bills for a fourth consecutive time in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Eagles scored a conference championship game record 55 points against their divisional rivals to advance to the team’s fifth Super Bowl.
Let’s take a look at the four most prominent storylines heading into the big game this Sunday.
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#4 Will Saquon Barkley complete the best season ever seen by a running back?
Saquon Barkley has been sensational since leaving the New York Giants for the Eagles. In his first year in Philly, the former number-two overall draft pick became just the ninth player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. If he manages to help lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl win, then he will join Hall of Farmer Terrell Davis as the only other running back to win a Super Bowl and rush for 2,000 yards in the same season.
Even if Barkley doesn’t end up hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, one could still argue that he is having the best season we have ever seen from a running back. He averaged 125.3 rushing yards per game during the regular season, the eighth-highest mark of all time. On top of that, he added 17.4 yards per game through the air.
Barkley has been even more impressive in the playoffs. This postseason alone, he is averaging 159 scrimmage yards per game, the fourth-highest per-game output in playoff history.
He’s a danger to take the ball to the house every time he steps foot on the field. Including the playoffs, Saquon has scored seven touchdowns of 60 yards or more, an all-time record. Moreover, he averages 6.7 yards per carry in the playoffs, so he is basically good for a first down every two rushing attempts.
Saquon Barkley has had one of the best seasons ever at the running back position. If Philly wins the Super Bowl – or even if they lose and he plays well – I think we will look back on this performance as the best single-season effort we have ever seen from a running back.
#3 Can the Eagles get revenge for Super Bowl LVII?
As previously mentioned, this weekend’s game will be a Super Bowl rematch we have seen before. In 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 with a game-winning field goal to secure the franchise’s third Lombardi Trophy.
The Eagles dealt with a nasty Super Bowl hangover the following year while the Chiefs went on to win a second consecutive championship. After starting last season 10-1, Philly lost six of its last seven games, including an embarrassing 32-9 Wild Card Round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The disappointment of 2023-24 carried over into this year when Philly opened the season 2-2 and some fans called for head coach Nick Sirianni’s job.
That is no longer the case since Philadelphia completely flipped the script, winning 15 of their next 16 games to make it back to the Super Bowl for the first time in two years. Amazingly, they’re the first franchise since the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 to make it back to the big game just two years after suffering a Super Bowl loss.
Philadelphia is going to be incredibly hungry coming into this one. 23 members of the Eagles were a part of the team that lost to the Chiefs in 2023. And, they’re still led by Nick Sirianni, so you know the fourth-year head coach will have his guys ready for the game and not distracted by the glitz and glamour of the events surrounding the Super Bowl. Philly also has extra motivation because one could argue that they lost Super Bowl LVII on a questionable defensive holding penalty called on cornerback James Bradberry.
The culmination of all of Philly’s efforts over the last two years could come to a head this weekend if they are able to exact revenge for their Super Bowl loss in 2023.
#2 What will Travis Kelce do if KC wins?
Travis Kelce is in the twilight years of his career as a professional athlete. The numbers prove that to be the case since his receiving yards and receiving touchdowns have decreased over the last three years.
Now, Kelce finds himself on the brink of immortality as he and the Chiefs get set to try to pull off the first three-peat in Super Bowl history.
If Kelce doesn’t win, then there is a good chance he will return to the team next season in pursuit of a fourth Super Bowl win so that he can ride off into the sunset as a winner. However, I’m more interested to see what Kelce does if the Chiefs do win Super Bowl LIX.
Will he announce his retirement right on the spot during the trophy presentation ceremony? Will he use the spotlight and propose to Taylor Swift during the post-game festivities? What if he invites his brother Jason onto the field, and the Kelce men start celebrating the win with a drinking contest? Any one of these outcomes is possible if KC wins.
We have seen Travis Kelce get himself into some sticky situations when celebrating victories. I mean, this is the same guy who had to be pulled away from President Joe Biden’s podium during the team’s 2024 Super Bowl celebration at the White House.
If the Chiefs end up winning the game next Sunday, all eyes will be on Travis Kelce when the confetti starts falling because he will probably end up doing something very memorable.
#1 Can the Chiefs pull off the three-peat?
The Chiefs’ potential three-peat is the biggest story coming into the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs are looking to become the second franchise in NFL history to win three consecutive championships. The Green Bay Packers already accomplished this feat twice (1929-1931 and 1965-1967), but the Pack never won three Super Bowls in a row, only three championships. Therefore, Kansas City will become the first franchise in league history to win three consecutive Lombardi Trophies if they pull off the victory on Sunday.
In North American professional sports history – mainly MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL – only eight teams have ever won three straight championships. The New York Yankees did it three times while the Oakland Athletics pulled off a three-peat once. The Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls each own at least one three-peat in the NBA. In the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders have each three-peated once. That’s it. That is the list.
If KC wins on Sunday, they will have recorded the 15th three-peat in North American sports history and the first since the Lakers won three straight championships from 2000 to 2002. We are clearly reaching rarified air here.
Also, if Kansas City wins its third straight Super Bowl, the perception of the Chiefs will change from a nuisance that always wins to a juggernaut that is stringing together the greatest stretch of winning we have ever seen at the highest competitive level in team sports.
Whether you are rooting for or against them, everybody tuning into Super Bowl LIX wants to see if the Chiefs can three-peat.
