Chiefs, Eagles bring familiar feel to Super Bowl 59
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Super Bowl 59 will have a very familiar feel to it. For the fifth time in six seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs will face an opponent they defeated in the Super Bowl two years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here's how we got to this point on conference championship Sunday:
➤ AFC championship: Kansas City Chiefs 32, Buffalo Bills 29 — The Chiefs have a chance at history. A win in Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9 in New Orleans would make Kansas City the first three-peat Super Bowl winner (the Green Bay Packers, it should be noted, won three consecutive NFL titles twice, 1929-1931 and 1965-67). Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs now have won four straight playoff matchups against Josh Allen and the Bills, whose run as one of the NFL's most snake-bitten franchises painfully continues.
➤ NFC championship: Philadelphia Eagles 55, Washington Commanders 23 — Not only did the Eagles get the first 50-burger in NFC championship game history (going back to 1970), but they set an NFC title game record with seven rushing touchdowns. Saquon Barkley had three of those touchdowns, including a 60-yarder on the Eagles' first offseason play from scrimmage. The Eagles are in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, and Jalen Hurts and Co. will be aiming for a better result than the last time they played the Chiefs.
📸 Best of conference championship games
Key storylines from conference championships
➤ Winners and losers: From Patrick Mahomes' scrambling ability and the Eagles' ground-and-pound offense to the Bills' inability to get past the KC hurdle and the Commanders' turnover-prone title game, here's what defined conference championship Sunday.
➤ Is Saquon Barkley's 2024 season the best ever for a RB? Barkley has been a force of nature in his first season with the Eagles, and he continued to make a massive impact in the NFC championship game victory.
➤ Eagles' signature play met with Commanders' odd 'mental warfare' defense: The Eagles' "Tush Push" has been a nearly unstoppable play. The Commanders deployed a unique tactic to try to stop it in the NFC title game.
➤ Commanders lose their composure with avalanche of errors: Turnovers, personal-foul penalties and a bizarre "palpably unfair act" helped contribute to a rough afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field for Washington.
➤ Why referees warned they would award TD for "palpably unfair act": This would have been a conference championship game first … the referees threatened to reward the Eagles with a touchdown after the Commanders repeatedly were penalized for encroachment.
➤ NFL needs to join 21st Century: NFL fans already believed the league favored Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The AFC championship won't help fix that perception. That's why the league needs to use electronic spotting, Nancy Armour writes.
📸 NFL cheerleaders, celebrities and fans
NFL playoff schedule
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday, Jan. 26
- NFC championship game: Philadelphia Eagles 55, Washington Commanders 23
- AFC championship game: Kansas City Chiefs 32, Buffalo Bills 29
SUPER BOWL 59
Sunday, Feb. 9
- Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles (in New Orleans), 6:30 p.m. ET (FOX)
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