The Super Bowl casts its shadow ahead! Awaited by NFL fans worldwide, the duel between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will take place in Glendale on the night of February 12 to 13 (0:30 a.m. CET).
sport.de clarifies which NFL superstars and duels will be particularly important at the mega spectacle in Arizona.
First of all, of course, the two quarterbacks should be mentioned. Patrick Mahomes This season, he rushed for 5,000+ yards in the NFL and was responsible for 45 regular-time touchdowns as a passer and runner. The 27-year-old was rewarded with the title of MVP for the second time.
In addition to Mahomes, who should be in top form again after ankle problems in the last two games, only two other players got a vote in the MVP election. One of the two was Jalen Hurts, quarterback for the Eagles. The playmaker also had injury problems and was out for the last few weeks of the regular season, but he also used the bye week in the playoffs to finally recover.
Up until his injury, Hurts showed a great performance and caused the opposing defenses great concern, especially because of his quality as a runner. With 13 rushing touchdowns, he is tied for second in that category behind Chargers running back Austin Ekeler (17).
The 3701 yards through the air and 22 passing touchdowns show that the always athletic Hurts has now established itself as a passer. Of course, this makes it much more difficult to calculate for the defensive lines.
In addition to the two quarterbacks, two players who got almost more attention before the Super Bowl than Hurts and Mahomes will also be of enormous importance. The two brothers Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce are the first siblings to face each other in a Super Bowl. The NFL final has been jokingly renamed the Kelce Bowl.
The mother of the two superstars was invited to the Media Days. In the “family jersey” sewn together, Donna Kelce surprised her two boys on stage and, just like in childhood days, had a few homemade cookies for her sons with her.
But in addition to the great story, the two NFL stars also have enormous sporting relevance for the game. Eagles center Jason Kelce is the heart of Philadelphia’s offensive line.
This did an extremely good job during the season, be it in the run game, in pass protection or in the Eagles’ signature play, the quarterback sneak. With over 30 attempts, the Eagles had a success rate of over 90 percent. It is clear that the O-Line only works as an overall construct, but Kelce as an experienced captain and center naturally has a decisive role.
Travis Kelce plays an even more important role with the Chiefs. While the tight end often has a mismatch in its favor against the linebackers in midfield, it’s especially important in the red zone.
Within the last 20 yards, Travis Kelce gets the most targets on his team. The Chiefs tried to stage their superstar through the air 29 times during the regular season. 17 balls came in, ten times resulting in a touchdown.
Duels at the line of scrimmage
Jason Kelce and his offensive line will especially be keeping an eye on Chris Jones need to have. The defensive tackle finished the regular season with 15.5 sacks (fourth in the NFL) and was in fine form in the championship game against the Bengals. Jones knocked down Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow twice.
For Jones, like many Chiefs players, it is the third Super Bowl in the last four years. However, the exceptional athlete has not yet recorded a sack in the two previous appearances on the big stage. It would be all the more important for him and the Chiefs if he could now break this “curse”.
Speaking of sacks, the Philadelphia Eagles have had tons of these this NFL season. Philadelphia (70) missed the Chicago Bears’ all-time record (72) by just two sacks.
With Jarvon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham (all eleven) and Haason Reddick with 16 sacks, Philly had four players with double-digit sack counts. Reddick even led the league with five forced fumbles. Stopping that defensive line will be a mammoth task for the Chiefs O-Line.
Marcel Schmidt