When the DeLorean gets up to 88 mph this Sunday afternoon, you’ll see some serious stuff. But you’re also going to see a rerun.
If you’ve seen the movie Back To The Future, you’re likely familiar with a scene showing Marty McFly pointing at the TV and saying, “Hey, I’ve seen this one!”…followed by the older brother from The Wonder Years saying, “What do you mean you’ve seen it? It’s brand new”. Marty responds with “yeah well I saw it on a rerun”.
Anyone who didn’t watch the Super Bowl two years ago feels like the older brother from The Wonder Years – and lucky you are watching something brand new.
The rest of us are Marty at this moment – we saw this one already.
If you didn’t watch the Super Bowl two years ago or haven’t watched BTTF on repeat and don’t have a vague idea of what the Wonders Years are, well, I can’t help you. You’re in what they call the manure years.
What BTFF part 2 or, more importantly, Gray’s Sports Almanac couldn’t tell you (since the copy Marty purchased only ran through the year 2000) is that Philadelphia wins this game. But more on that later.
This is the 59th Super Bowl, and it’s the 10th time the teams in the biggest game of the year are facing off in a rematch.
In the previous nine rematches, only three teams have exacted revenge for a loss in a previous game. In 1982, Washington faced Miami in a rematch of the 1973 Super Bowl won by Miami, and this time, the team from the other Washington emerged victorious. In 1995, Dallas faced Pittsburgh for the third time (first since the ’70s) and finally won a championship over the Steelers. The only other time the losing team won the rematch was in 2017 when the Philadelphia Eagles faced the New England Patriots for a do-over of the 2004 Super Bowl, which the Patriots won, but Philly was more special this time.
This is the second Super Bowl rematch for the Kansas City Chiefs, who played San Francisco twice in 2019 and 2023, winning both games. This is also the second Super Bowl rematch for Philadelphia as they faced Kansas City in the 2022 Super Bowl.
Just because we saw this same Super Bowl two years ago doesn’t mean this one will be the same throughout; rematches rarely are. But anyone who watched the Super Bowl last year, which was a rerun of the 2019 Super Bowl, has to be nervous that the game will end like it did last time, with Kansas City winning.
The Chiefs are favored by 1.5 points, and Vegas has the over-under set at 48.5, which seems low given that these two teams combined for 73 points last time around—and both sides left points on the field. The Eagles were favored by 1 point, and the over-under was 50 points going into that matchup, which they also played indoors. This is going to be a high-scoring game; it just is.
Anyone who recalls how the Chiefs completed their comeback in 2022 is probably on the front lines of those arguing that they are getting preferential treatment in key moments from the officials—and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the rest of us to disagree.
That doesn’t mean that Kansas City isn’t well coached or that they aren’t extremely well disciplined in high-pressure moments, but, interestingly, it happens almost weekly. It could be that they play in very closely contested games where every call and every play could impact the game, or it could be that they are so good at winning that we want to see something new so severely we cheer for the other team to win the wrong way, or it could be just a strange coincidence.
The truth is that most games have a team with more favorable calls from the zebra crew. An objective fan with no rooting interest in either team can rarely watch a game and feel like both teams were treated relatively; it just doesn’t happen. Calls also get missed, but sometimes they are so blatant you wonder how a trained professional can miss it, but then you see a receiver let the ball go right through his hands, and you realize how quickly things happen in this game, and no one is going to get every call correct all the time.
It’s a flawed system, but it’s our system, and it’s all we have until the UFL kicks off later next month. Then, it’s seven months until NFL football returns in September. You might not like the Chiefs or the Eagles, but this is the last game of the season, and you would likely give your left pinky to watch this game in a few weeks.
Both of these teams have tacticians at coordinator positions and a ton of talent, so it’s doubtful you will see either team be unprepared or incapable when the big moments arrive. You are more likely to see a back-and-forth battle between the two best teams in the league, with the title of Super Bowl champion on the line for the team with the most points next to their name by the end of the game.
One key potential distraction is that Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is rumored to be accepting the head coach position with the New Orleans Saints. Yes, it is the same city where the game is being played. The last time Philladeplpha was in the tournament’s final round, their defensive coordinator was in talks to take over in Arizona – which he did following their loss. It’s possible Moore won’t be focused on anything other than the task at hand. Still, it’s also hard to hyper-focus when you’re potentially being monitored by your future employer in their building while coaching in the biggest game of your life.
Kansas City certainly has the pedigree to be here, but no one looking at their roster would say they are the better team on paper, even if they are favored. Outside of QB and TE, the Chiefs really shouldn’t be able to beat the Eagles on paper, at least, but that’s the story of KC this year – winning games they should have lost. They were outgained in their two playoff games and lost the turnover battle, but they won both. That shouldn’t be possible, but here we are.
On the other hand, Philly has certainly outplayed their competition, but facing the Packers, Rams, and Commanders was not exactly a murderer row of opponents, and they never had to play the Lions. It’s fair to question if the Eagles arrived here on the backs of inferior opponents while the Chiefs had to battle a Houston team that beat the crap out of an excellent Chargers team, then had to beat Buffalo for the right to play Philly.
On paper, Philly is the better team as they have a bigger offensive line, a great defensive line, the best RB in football, a great group of pass catchers, and the best defense in football. But none of that matters. All that matters is who wants it more on Sunday.
Both of these teams have really good defenses, play high-quality football, and limit their mistakes while finding and taking advantage of every possible mismatch they have at their disposal. Neither offense will set the world on fire with an aerial display. Still, neither defense is the 1985 Chicago Bears either, so don’t expect either team to struggle to move the ball as long as they play smart and put their most deadly chess pieces against their opponent’s weakest links.
So what will we see when lightning strikes the clock tower, and we are sent back to the future?
The Chiefs will storm out to an early lead, weather a quick rally from the Eagles, and hold a touchdown lead going into the fourth quarter. Settling for a late field goal to break a tie will be their doom as it won’t be enough to hold off the Eagles, who will score a touchdown in the final minute to prevail 31-27. Saquon Barkley will be named Super Bowl MVP, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis won it in 1997.
Coverage will begin around dawn on Sunday morning, but the actual game coverage won’t begin until around 3 p.m. when the festivities truly start. If you want to watch a hundred player interviews and reports, go right ahead, but there won’t be any game entertainment until well into the afternoon.
The pregame show will feature Jon Batiste performing the national anthem, Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle performing “America the Beautiful,” and Ledisi performing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Kendrick Lamar will perform at halftime, which may feel like a rerun as he was part of the 2022 halftime show.
The game will be broadcast on FOX and can be streamed on Tubi.
