The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will meet in the Super Bowl after winning their respective Conference Championships in contrasting fashion on Sunday.
The Eagles defeated the injury-plagued San Francisco 49ers 31-7, while the Chiefs needed a field goal with three seconds remaining to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.
The victories have set up a matchup between two of the most explosive and entertaining quarterbacks in the NFL: Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles.
The Sunday, 12 February matchup in Arizona will test Chiefs head coach Andy Reid against the team he coached for 14 seasons.
“I had a terrific time there for fourteen years, which is quite a while. “I am happy for them, happy for the city, they are passionate and love football, and I can’t wait until Kansas City and Philadelphia face off, it’s going to be an awesome Super Bowl,” he remarked.
With an impressive victory in the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles secured the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl participation, and second in five years.
The 49ers’ victory chances were dashed after a catastrophic first half in which starting quarterback Brock Purdy, the team’s third-string quarterback, was hurt on the opening drive.
Back-up Josh Johnson, the fourth-string quarterback for the Niners, was also hurt in the third quarter.
The Eagles scored all of their touchdowns on the ground, with running back Miles Sanders scoring twice, Boston Scott adding a third, and quarterback Jalen Hurts plowing over in the third quarter.
The Eagles accumulated 148 running yards with 44 carries.
“I’ve dreamed about this my entire life, and so have the guys on this team,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game.
“To be able to do this with a group of men who love each other, are connected, and would do anything for each other – that’s pretty awesome.”
After a costly penalty against the Bengals, Harrison Butker kicked the game-winning field goal from 45 yards out to secure the victory for the Chiefs. Cincinnati, who had won 10 consecutive games, had threatened another comeback victory.
Mahomes entered the game with an ankle injury he sustained in last week’s divisional round victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, while his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, was battling with a back injury he sustained in practice on Friday.
Although the quarterback was less mobile than usual and occasionally finished the game limping, he was able to make crucial plays down the stretch.
Indeed, whatever significant concerns the Chiefs had about their two important players were alleviated in the second quarter when Mahomes rolled right and threw a touchdown throw to Kelce from 14 yards out to make the score 13-3 in favor of Kansas City.
Burrow’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgins after the halftime break knotted the game at 13-13 for Cincinnati.
Mahomes completed the 11-play, 77-yard drive by throwing a 19-yard pass down the middle to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who made a great grab for a first down to keep the Chiefs’ drive alive.
After a Mahomes fumble resulted in a turnover, Burrow led the Bengals down the field with a pass of 35 yards to Ja’marr Chase and a two-yard touchdown run by Samaje Perine to tie the game at 20-20.
The Chiefs received the ball with 30 seconds remaining and under pressure on third-and-four, Patrick Mahomes utilized his legs to gain a first down, but after running out of bounds he was tackled to the ground by Joseph Ossai.
The following 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness brought the Chiefs into field goal range, and Butker maintained his composure to ignite the celebration at the icy Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs will hope that Mahomes can fully recover in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, but the quarterback acknowledged he had no choice but to play through agony at the end.
“At certain points in games, you must put everything on the line,” he remarked.
“I knew I would get there in some way.”
According to Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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