After 21 weeks in the trenches, from some early season concerns to the best bye week of all time, some injury concerns down the stretch, and then a run of playoff games that presented unique challenges from week to week, the Philadelphia Eagles are heading back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, where they will look to end the Kansas City Chiefs’ reign of terror once and for all.

The narrative has been written. The picks are in. And best of all? Fans don’t have to go another weekend without professional football, as the Super Bowl is set to kick off at 6:30 EST on Sunday.

In one corner, we have the Chiefs, who won the last two Lombardi Trophies under head coach Andy Reid and found a way to get back to the big game with an effective offense, a stout defense, and enough good luck to consistently come out of close games with another notch in the win column.

Is their +59 point difference concerning? Maybe so, as is their expected win percentage of .600, their 18th-ranked passing defense, and their 39 sacks over the regular season, which is two fewer than Vic Fangio’s notoriously meh pass rush during the regular season. But the Chiefs are pretty good at defending the run, have the experience advantage, and still employ the best quarterback in the NFL, who routinely turns nothing into something from under center.

And as for the Eagles? Well, they just turned in one of the most impressive seasons in NFL history, with an all-time great rushing offense paired up with an elite passing defense headlined by not one but two rookies at cornerback and a former special teamer-turned-All-Pro Linebacker in the middle of their defense.

Will the road be challenging for Philadelphia to leave New Orleans with the win? Yes. Will the Chiefs try their best to keep the game close, only pulling ahead in the end for the big win? Yes, that will probably happen too. But do the Eagles have the players, coaches, and components needed to bring a second Super Bowl parade down Broad Street? Yes, they do, much to the chagrin of fans in Philadelphia and anywhere the Chiefs are enemy number one.

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1. Saquon Barkley breaks more than just the all-time rushing record

When it comes to Super Bowl 59, the grandest storyline has to be Saquon Barkley’s pursuit of the all-time rushing record, which currently belongs to Terrell Davis.

That’s right, after coming up short of Eric Dickerson’s regular season rushing record, Barkley is just 30 yards away from breaking Davis’ all-time record and could theoretically set a new mark on the Eagles’ first offensive snap of the game if he can take another 60 yarder to the house like his efforts against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship game.

The problem? Steve Spagnola and the Chiefs know as well as anyone that the Eagles’ bread and butter is Barkley’s rushing abilities, and they will do their best to limit his yards per carry with a strong presence around the offensive line.

Now, as Barkley himself has noted multiple times, stacking the box doesn’t actually do much to slow him down. If the Eagles’ offensive line can get him a lane, there is usually just one player in the secondary he has to beat in order to record a massive gain, if not a touchdown. But that won’t stop the Chiefs from trying to make Jalen Hurts beat them through the air, as they might go so far as to deploy a full-time spy to make sure neither of Philadelphia’s top runners can make nothing into something in the open field.

With that being said, Barkley is still Barkley, and if anyone can rip off a big run against the Chiefs’ defense, it’s the pride of Penn State. While the Chiefs were good against the run in the regular season, allowing an average of 101.8 yards per game, that mark has jumped to an average of 148 in the playoffs, with both James Cook and Joe Mixon rushing for over 80 yards and at least one touchdown in losing efforts.

Could Barkley become the first player to rush for over 100 yards against the Chiefs on his own since Lamar Jackson accomplished the feat all the way back in Week 1? Yes, while it may be hard, if anyone can accomplish the feat, it has to be Barkley. But even if he can’t, it’s impossible to imagine the Eagles collectively rushing for under 100 yards, as if Barkley gets stuffed up, Hurts can more than pick up the slack on his own.

2. Jalen Hurts throws a pick but bounces back with a great showing

When it comes to rare occurrences in the 2024 NFL season, a Hurts interception game is actually less likely than Barkley rushing for under 100 yards in a game.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, it’s true; while Hurts has only thrown the ball five times to the other team, the same number as Barkley’s sub-100-yard rushing outings, QB1 has only thrown picks in four games, two in Week 1, one in Week 2, one in Week 3, and one in Week 10. While Hurts’ turnover total is actually higher, at 15 on the year, when you factor in his ten fumbles, he’s been very effective when it comes to getting the ball where it needs to go, even if his unwillingness to make a negative play has resulted in more than a few sacks in 2024 and 2025.

But what happens if Hurts throws an interception in the Super Bowl? Will he crumble and return to his early season form? Or will he rally and fight back to keep Philly in the game? While Chiefs fans surely hope it’s the former, when push comes to shove, that would be the moment when Hurts would need to step up and prove he’s that dude with glory on the line.

Fortunately, in the NFC Championship game, the Eagles utilized creative concepts that kept Washington off balance and Hurts looked darn good under center as a result. If Hurts can throw the ball that well against a Chiefs defense that ranked 18th in passing defense over the course of the regular season, the Eagles have a pretty good chance of winning.

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3. The Philadelphia Eagles win the freakin’ Super Bowl

Full disclosure: I think I have predicted that the Eagles would win all but one game this season, and so far, that confidence has been met with strong play from Sirianni’s squad. The Eagles have won games with their passing offense, their passing defense, their rushing defense, their special teams, and obviously their rushing offense, where Barkley has performed to a level that even the most optimistic fans saw coming.

Can the Eagles do it one more time? Will they be able to take down the biggest juggernaut the NFL has seen since the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick? Or will this team come up short just like their big bros back in 2023, with Kellen Moore almost certainly staying in New Orleans after the game to become the Saints’ new head coach?

While it won’t be easy, and the Chiefs have more than a few ways to beat up on another team, the Eagles haven’t lost a game with Hurts under center since September, with their lone loss since coming almost exclusively with Kenny Pickett playing quarterback. If Hurts and Barkley can stay healthy, it feels like they will be able to call themselves Super Bowl Champions on Monday morning.