The lineups for the 2023 Super Bowl are set. It’ll be the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship on Sunday.
The first drive automatically brought the action-packed game to a wild start. The Eagles decided to go for a chance on fourth and three, resulting in a one-handed grab from Devante Smith on the sidelines, putting them in the red zone.
Miles Sanders walked in for the first score of the game just two plays later. Out of the gate, the Eagles were in control.
The 49er’s first possession ended early with a Brock Purdy fumble. Purdy was injured on the play and left the game with an elbow injury.
The 49er’s defense was able to put a swift stop to the Eagles and ensured no points were lost with the turnover.
Josh Johnson came in to replace Purdy, but then he too was knocked out of the game with a concussion after a hit from Ndamukong Suh early in the third quarter.
Before he was taken out of the game, Johnson was able to hand the ball off to Christian McCaffrey, who broke multiple tackles and ran in for the 49er’s only points of the game.
With just a few minutes left in the second half, Miles Sanders ran in for another Eagles touchdown. This secured the lead that they maintained for the rest of the game.
A little over one minute remained left in the half when Johnson bobbled and fumbled the snap, leading to yet another turnover for the 49ers.
The Eagles were quick to act on it, and with 18 seconds left, they scored their third touchdown fo the game.
The second half of the game provided no avail for the 49ers. Purdy re-entered the game in the third quarter, but it was evident that the 49ers were limited to short passes and run. He threw only two more passes which led to no more points for San Francisco.
The Eagles went on to score one more touchdown and a field goal in the last quarter with a final score of 31-7. Cementing their position in Super Bowl LVII. Their opponent is now set to be the Kansas City Chiefs following their narrow win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Benagals and Chiefs’ face off reminded much closer and a contestant back and forth.
In the first quarter, the Chiefs came out dominating. Bengal’s quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked three times and they did not gain a single yard.
The Chiefs almost pulled off a touchdown but the pass to Kadarius Toney was ruled incomplete and they resorted to a 43-yard field goal.
The second quarter started with an early score from the Chiefs with a 24-yard field goal, extending their lead six to zero.
In the next possession, the Bengals were able to get on the scoreboard for the first time all game after McPherson drilled a 30-yard field goal.
After a fairly quick possession, the Chiefs turn a fourth and one from just outside of the red zone into another touchdown.
Jaylen Watson picks off a throw from Burrow just a few plays later, but the Chiefs were unable to capitalize and get some points from the turnover.
The ball went back to the Bengals who were able to get an additional field goal with just seconds left in the half.
Coming back from halftime, the Benagls were able to really put themselves back into the game tying it up with a touchdown early in the third quarter.
Both teams scored one more touchdown making the score 20-20 where it remained for almost the entirety of the fourth quarter.
It all came down to the last minute of the game. Mahomes’ narrowly saved a fourth and one attempt for the Chiefs to get them in field goal range with the help of a 15 yard penalty. With seconds clicking down on the clock Evan McPherson made the game changing field goal sending the Chiefs to the Superbowl.
With the win, “it will mark the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl appearance in four years after they broke a five-decade drought to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2020,” Reuters said.
Super Bowl LVIII will be hosted in Arizona on February 12 this year when the Chiefs and Eagles will go head to head for the coveted Lombardi trophy.