A points-fest?
The lowest scoring Super Bowl ever was in 2019. The Patriots beat the Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII, so it’d be difficult to beat that. However, the Eagles have only conceded 14 points in total during the postseason! For their part the Chiefs have allowed 20 points in both of their playoff games. During the regular season Kansas City averaged 29 points per game. Their defense conceded 22 points per game so they will be hoping for a shoot-out in the desert. Philadelphia though scored an average of 28 points per game but conceded just 20 per game.
Where it gets interesting is the Chiefs conceded more touchdown passes than any other team in 2022. However the Eagles scored most of their touchdowns on the ground. The Chiefs’ run defense was the fifth best in the NFL during the regular season. Kansas City lead the NFL with 41 pass touchdowns in 2022 and the Eagles pass defense was ranked 10th in terms of scores conceded. So, both teams could cancel out each other’s strong suits.
Obviously, this is Jalen Hurts’ first Super Bowl, but he did have a bit of a wobble in his first College Playoff Championship game when Tua famously stepped in. Alabama were 13-0 down when Hurts was benched. Mahomes might have been to two Super Bowls already, but they were both very different experiences. In his first he threw two touchdown passes as Kansas City won 31-20 but last time around, he threw no touchdowns and they only scored nine points. The only thing he did in both games was throw two interceptions, so that will interest C.J Gardner-Johnson.
Most interceptions
The record for most interceptions in a single Super Bowl dates back to 1981. Rod Martin of the Oakland Raiders picked off Ron Jaworski three times.
Frankly it’s highly unlikely this record is broken this week because both teams have only thrown 21 interceptions between them. There are two ways it could happen though, if the Eagles can completely shut down Kansas City’s run game, they could put Mahomes under pressure and if his ankle isn’t healthy enough for him to run, he may try some risky throws. For Jalen Hurts to throw more than one interception the Eagles would have to be chasing the game early on and completely alter their usual game plan.
Most turnovers in a Super Bowl
The Buffalo Bills had a record nine turnovers back in 1993 when they played the Cowboys at the Rose Bowl. In Super Bowl XXVII Jim Kelly and Frank Reich both threw two interceptions as the Bills lost 52-17. The two quarterbacks also lost four fumbles between them, and wide receiver Steve Tasker lost one too!
If that record is broken in Super Bowl LVII, it’ll be one of the wildest games of the season.
Tackles in a single game
Dan Morgan set his record of 18 combined tackles back in 2004! Morgan’s Panthers lost that game to the Patriots in a game that is now remembered more for Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s shenanigans at half time.
Nick Bolton of the Chefs is the player in this game who has made more tackles than anyone else, he made 180 in the regular season. The 22-year-old played 98% of the Chiefs’ snaps in 2022 in his second season in the league. He only missed seven tackles during the 1119 snaps he played. He made 18 tackles in week 16 against the Seahawks who aren’t as run heavy as the Eagles.
Philadelphia’s top tackler is T.J Edwards. A quarterback in high school Edwards made 159 in the 17 regular season games he started, he missed 11 though. He played 1041 snaps in the regular season and made 14 tackles in both week 6 and week 16. Edwards is the Eagles run stopping middle linebacker though and Kansas City only runs 38% of the time so he might not be too busy this week.
The most sacks in a Super Bowl?
Four teams have recorded seven sacks in a Super Bowl, most recently the Rams did it last year as the Bengals pass protection dissolved in front of Joe Burrow. The Denver Broncos did it against the Panthers in 2016. Von Miller really is a special pass rusher. Before that the 1986 Bears made seven sacks against the Patriots. Chicago sacked Steve Grogan four times after he replaced Tony Eason, who had taken the first three sacks. The first time it happened was back in Super Bowl X when the “Steel Curtain” flattened Roger Staubach seven times in Super Bowl X.
Four Eagles recorded more than 10 sacks in the regular season. Haason Reddick lead the way with 16, second in the league standings only to Nick Bosa. Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat and Javon Hargrave all notched up 11 sacks. So, the Chiefs offensive line will have its work cut out and if Mahomes is still troubled by his ankle Philadelphia’s defensive front might cause a lot of problems.
Kansas City only allowed 26 sacks in 2022 though which was the third fewest in the league. The Chiefs defense were ranked second in the league (obviously behind the Eagles) for sacks, but they made 15 fewer than Philadelphia. The Eagles allowed 44 sacks in the regular season, the 11th most in the NFL. 17 players have recorded at least half a sack for Kansas City and with five offensive linemen appearing on the Eagles injury report it could be a long night for both quarterbacks. Seven is a lot of sacks though so something untoward would have to happen for that record to be broken.