rewrite this content and keep HTML tags
The latest
Repeat performances: Ranking every Super Bowl rematch | Yardbarker
1. Super Bowl LVIII (Feb. 11, 2024) | Chiefs 25, 49ers 22 in OT
First meeting: Chiefs 31, 49ers 20 (Super Bowl LIV)
Rematch: In the second Super Bowl to reach overtime, Kansas City turned it into an all-time classic. The Chiefs won their third title in four seasons, cementing their modern dynasty and setting them up for a historic first three-peat if they emerge victorious in New Orleans on Sunday.
Hall of Fame meter: 10 Chiefs, Eagles with legacies on the line in SB LIX | FOX Sports
CHIEFS
5. DC Steve Spagnuolo
No one has ever been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame based primarily on their work as an assistant coach, but Spags might be the one to finally break that glass ceiling. He is already the only coordinator to win four Super Bowl championships, and the only one to win with two different franchises (he also won with the 2007 Giants). His work in turning the Chiefs defense into a top-10 unit is a big reason why this dynasty is still rolling (and could complete the first three-peat).
His one head coaching stint was a disaster (10-38 with the Rams from 2009 to 2011), and it seems unlikely he’ll get another shot in the big chair, although he did interview with two teams in this cycle. But a fifth ring as a defensive coordinator has to get the selection committee’s attention. His bust would belong right next to Andy Reid’s.
Super Bowl 2025 preview: Chiefs-Eagles stats, prediction, more | ESPN
Will Spags send the house?
The ultimate risk-reward gambit for Spagnuolo and his pressures is to all-out blitz. The Chiefs play Cover 0 (no deep safety help and one defender in coverage for every eligible receiver, with everyone else blitzing the quarterback) on 7.8% of opposing dropbacks. The Raiders were the only team that played Cover 0 more this season. A year ago, with cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in the mix, the Chiefs played Cover 0 on 11% of snaps in the playoffs. That was more than double the league average.
Of course, if I were imagining what sort of offensive playmakers would scare a defensive coordinator away from calling Cover 0, I would … basically have the Eagles. In a defensive look in which one missed tackle can mean a touchdown, Barkley has been unstoppable in the open field. He can run through entire teams if given the opportunity and is a mismatch against any defender in any sort of space.
It’s not just Barkley. Hurts is more of a threat on designed runs than he is as a scrambler, yet he still averaged 10 yards per scramble this season. Brown is capable of either running past or through cover corners. Smith is a threat to run away from coverage and make spectacular catches. And while opposing coaches would probably be relieved if Philadelphia targeted Dallas Goedert instead, Goedert already has a touchdown this postseason against Cover 0 when he manhandled Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine in the wild-card round.
Prisco’s 2025 Super Bowl pick: In Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs we trust; QB leads game-winning drive vs. Eagles | CBS Sports
Like it always does in these big games, it will come down to Mahomes. This will again be a tight game in the fourth quarter. Mahomes and the Chiefs offense will need a touchdown to win it.
Are you going to pick against him doing it?
I am not.
Mahomes will lead the Chiefs on a historic drive against the Eagles zone defense and the line will block up the front well enough to allow him to do it. He will hit Worthy for the game-winning score in the final minutes to pull off the three-peat, becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight Super Bowls.
At 29, Mahomes will be stamping himself as the GOAT of the quarterbacks — yes, ahead of Tom Brady
He is the NFL’s Michael Jordan. That’s saying something. Three-peat was a Jordan thing. By Sunday night, it will be a Mahomes thing, too.
Pick: Chiefs 30, Eagles 27
2025 Super Bowl expert picks: Super Bowl 59 and 59 bets to make, props for Eagles, Chiefs players, long shots | CBS Sports
CBS Sports staff props
Jordan Dajani: Travis Kelce Under 15.5 mph (-116, FanDuel): Kelce’s longest reception went for 11 yards in the AFC Championship game. I have him in a role where he’s moving the chains, not out-sprinting the Eagles down the sideline.
Tyler Sullivan: Dallas Goedert Over 4.5 receptions (-137, DraftKings): Kansas City is allowing six receptions per game to the tight end position (fourth highest in the NFL). Goedert also has at least four receptions in nine straight playoff games.
Tyler Sullivan: Jalen Hurts Over 9.5 rushing attempts (+103, DraftKings): Hurts crossed this total in the NFC Championship and averaged 10 attempts per game during the regular season.
Super Bowl 59 Predictions: MMQB Staff Picks for Eagles-Chiefs | SI
Albert Breer
Super Bowl: Chiefs 27, Eagles 23
MVP: Patrick Mahomes
Coming out of last season, I instituted a personal “no picking against the Chiefs in the playoffs” policy. It took me all of two playoff games to break it—predicting the Buffalo Bills to beat Kansas City (at Arrowhead, no less) in the AFC title game. Moral of the story: I’m dumb. But not dumb enough to step on that rake again. I think where there’s a contrast in scheme styles, Kansas City’s complexity against Philly’s simplicity, the Chiefs will seize their edge. This time, I’m going to trust they’ll take advantage of it. I’ll trust that Andy Reid and Matt Nagy will engineer matchups to get Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown running with the Philly safeties. I’ll trust that Mahomes and Travis Kelce can’t be stopped in critical situations. I’ll trust that the offensive line will be good enough. I’ll trust that Steve Spagnuolo will use Leo Chenal as a queen on the chess board in stopping the run, that Nick Bolton will handle Hurts as a scrambler, and that Trent McDuffie will cover DeVonta Smith in a way that’ll allow the Chiefs to throw more at A.J. Brown. More than anything, I’ll trust the team that took the baton from the New England Patriots as the dynasty that never dies in the biggest moments won’t succumb in the Superdome on Sunday. And if I’m wrong, I can deal with that, much easier than if I picked against them two times in a row.
Every NFL trade involving a first-round pick since 2020, with takeaways for a Myles Garrett deal | SB Nation
2022 Miami Dolphins’s trade for Tyreek Hill
The Dolphins were trying to secure their WR corps around a young QB, so they traded for one of the top receivers in the game. Miami sent a huge package to Kansas City for Hill; 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-round pick, 2022 fourth-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick, and 2023 sixth-round pick. Hill immediately signed a deal at the top of the market, making him the NFL’s highest-paid receiver.
Around the NFL
Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey dies at 102: A life inextricably linked to Chicago franchise | NFL.com
It was 1975, in a box at the old Soldier Field, when Virginia Halas McCaskey got an up-close view of what owning an NFL team was like. She shared the box — it was very basic — with her husband and brother, as well as the Chicago Bears’ general manager at the time, Jim Finks. And with her father, George Halas, one of the founders of the NFL.
“We all took everything very seriously,” McCaskey said in a 2016 interview. “The first time I sat up there with them, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was — the total involvement of my dad into every play and every yard. He just got so upset and worked up about every little thing that happened. He could see so many more things than I could see.
“And I went home that night and really worried about him. Here is this 80-year-old man who cared so much. And by end of the week before the next game, I realized that’s a pretty darn good thing, to be 80 years old and to care that much about anything.”
Eight years later, when her legendary father died, McCaskey inherited the team and, she would say much later, got just as worked up about the Bears late into her life as her father had.
On Thursday, McCaskey — a rare woman in the NFL’s ownership ranks — died at the age of 102, ending an enduring link to the earliest days of the league. As a toddler, McCaskey had gone along on the Red Grange barnstorming tour in 1925 — an event staged by her father after he signed Grange, helping get the NFL off the ground — an appropriate beginning for the woman who would become, as former commissioner Paul Tagliabue used to introduce her, “the first lady of the NFL.”
Maxx Crosby: I’ve had doubts in past, but this is the most optimistic I’ve been about Raiders | NBC Sports
Crosby was a guest on PFT Live in New Orleans on Thursday and he talked about his desire to win a championship being the biggest motivator for him at this point in his career. Crosby said he wants to be a leader in the push for a title rather than jumping onto a team that already has most of the pieces in place while admitting that he hasn’t been convinced that the Raiders are a place that can happen.
“I’ve had doubts in the past,” Crosby said. “I feel like this past year was the hardest part of my career. Battling through injury the whole year, struggling, losing 10 games in a row. Up here, it makes you start questioning a lot of things.”
Crosby went on to say the arrival of Carroll and new General Manager John Spytek along with Tom Brady’s presence in ownership make him “the most optimistic I’ve been” since he’s been part of the franchise. There is a lot that needs to happen to turn that optimism into the results that have eluded the Raiders for so long.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl: Trent McDuffie has new role this time around
The last time Kansas City Chiefs star cornerback Trent McDuffie played against the Philadelphia Eagles (in last year’s regular season), he predominantly played from the slot while ex-teammate and current Tennessee Titan L’Jarius Sneed held down the perimeter.
Fast forward to this year, and the gauntlet of being the man on the outside has fallen at McDuffie’s feet. It’s a challenge he has taken head-on and is looking forward to on Sunday in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
To prepare for the game, McDuffie said he watched Super Bowl LVII — in which the Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35 — and the 2023 rematch, in which the Chiefs collected a 21-17 home win.
“Honestly, really just looking at how they were attacking us, seeing just the things that I can improve upon as far as technique-wise,” explained McDuffie from the podium on Wednesday. “I’m on the outside this time, so just watching more tape on A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.”
It’s a challenge that McDuffie says he relishes, especially within the brand of defense the Chiefs play.
“I love how aggressive coach [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] is,” McDuffie said. “To play in a defense like that. It’s been a lot of fun because he’s going to utilize you in multiple ways. So I always say, like before the game pre-week, it takes a little bit more discipline to really know your plays — studying and making sure you know at each certain situation what we can call knowing that he will call certain plays. Just knowing that at the end of the day like he’s going to trust us to go out there and make plays. And that gives you a lot of confidence.”
