It’s Super Bowl LIX. The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to make history on Sunday in the Big Easy. The Philadelphia Eagles know it won’t be easy to slow down Patrick Mahomes and company. Andy Reid’s club have a big challenge ahead as well as Saquon Barkley is enjoying an all-time season.
Hence, here are 10 Super factoids that make for great conversation, and perhaps a prop bet or two.
11
This will be the 11th Super Bowl in the Big Easy. That ties Miami/South Florida for the most in Super Bowl history. This will be the eighth Super Bowl played at the Superdome, extending that record. The first three Super Bowls played in New Orleans took place at Tulane Stadium (IV, VI, and IX).
The Kansas City Chiefs’ first Super Bowl win came via a 23-7 triumph over the Minnesota Vikings at the venue. The first indoor Super Bowl took place at the Superdome (XII) when Dallas beat Denver, 27-10. The last Super Bowl played in New Orleans? John Harbaugh’s Ravens defeated Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers, 34-31, in Super Bowl XLVII.
5
Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes will be starting his fifth Super Bowl in six years. He will become just the third quarterback in the Super Bowl Era to make five starts. The short list is led by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady (10), who opened for the Patriots on nine occasions, with his team came away with a 6-3 record.
His 10th appearance was with the Buccaneers, who defeated Mahomes and the Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV in Tampa. The other was Broncos’ quarterback John Elway, who came up short in Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV, but was a repeat champion in XXXII and XXXIII—the latter as the game’s MVP.
15
It’s unprecedented in the 58-year history of this series. Each of the last three Super Bowls has been decided by three points. The Rams edged the Bengals, 23-20, in Super Bowl LVI, and the Chiefs knocked off the Eagles and 49ers (in OT) by scores of 38-35, and 25-22, respectively, in Super Bowls LVII and LVIII.
More than half (15) of the last 27 Super Sundays have seen a game decided by seven points or less. That’s something that happened only seven times in the first 31 Super Bowls. There have been two Super Bowls to reach overtime (LI and LVIII) the last eight years, something that never happened in the first 50 games.
14
The Philadelphia Eagles allowed the fewest total yards in the league this season, and were ranked first in terms of fewest passing yards allowed as well. It was quite the turnround for a team that ranked 26th in the NFL in total defense a year ago, and gave up the second-most aerial yardage in the league.
The Eagles are the 15th team to reach the Super Bowl having allowed the fewest total yards per game in the NFL, and the first since the 2015 Denver Broncos. The previous 14 times, that club hoisted the Lombardi Trophy 10 times. The last team to bring the No. 1 defense to the Super Bowl and lose? The 2013 Seahawks (XLIX).
3
With a victory on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will become the first franchise to win three consecutive Super Bowls. However, it would not be the first time that a team won three straight NFL titles. The first to do it was the Green Bay Packers, who were award three championships from 1929-31 based on winning percentage.
The Pack was back at it again under head coach Vince Lombardi. The club won five titles in a seven-year span from 1961-67. That includes the 1965 NFL Championship, along with Super Bowls I and II. The latter titles came via convincing victories over the Chiefs (35-10) and Raiders (33-14), respectively.
7
Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley is having a season for the ages. He led the NFL with 2,005 yards rushing in 2024, and has added a combined 442 yards on the ground in the postseason victories over the Packers (119), Rams (205), and Commanders (118).
There has been a total of 58 Super Bowls played, and on only seven occasions a running back has taken home Super Bowl MVP honors. The last time that happened was nearly 30 years ago, when Broncos’ running back Terrell Davis gashed the Green Bay Packers’ defense for 157 yards and three scores in Denver’s 31-24 win in Super Bowl XXXII at San Diego.
0
More discussion regarding Super Bowl MVPs. In more than half of the Super Bowls to date (33 times), the quarterback has been named the game’s Most Valuable Player. All told, there’s never been a punter, placekicker, an offensive lineman, or a tight end to earn MVP honors. In last year’s game, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce caught nine passes for 93 yards in the Chiefs’ overtime win.
Kelce is the NFL’s all-time leader in postseason receptions (174), and Philadelphia’ Dallas Goedert, are worthy candidates. The latter has had a tremendous 2024 postseason, totaling 15 receptions for 188 yards and one score in three games.
10
Comebacks from double-digit deficits have now become the norm on Super Sunday. In the first 48 Super Bowls, the Washington Redskins (XXII) and New Orleans Saints (XLIV) were the only teams to rebound from being 10 points down to win a Super Bowl. It’s now happened five times in the last 10 years, and there’s a common denominator.
Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady turned the trick twice (XLIX and LI), the latter rallying his team from a 25-point third quarter deficit vs. the Falcons. All three of the Chiefs’ wins with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (LIV, LVII and LVIII) has seen them rally from at least 10 points down.
1
Neither Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes nor Eagles’ signal-caller Jalen Hurts has been picked off in this year’s playoffs. That’s a good thing, considering the impact of a pick-six in Super Bowl history. All told, there have been 15 interceptions returned for touchdowns in 58 Super Bowls.
Teams that have returned at least one interception for a TD in a Super Bowl are 12-1. The Buccaneers took back three Rich Gannon’s interceptions for scores in Super Bowl XXXVII. The lone time a team overcame a pick-six to win? Atlanta’s Robert Alford returned a Tom Brady pick 82 yards for a score, but the Pats rallied to win Super Bowl LI.
100
Turnovers always take center stage in the postseason, and especially on Super Bowl Sunday. In this year’s playoffs, the Chiefs have given up the football once in two games, and the Eagles have played turnover-free football in their three postseason wins. In 58 Super Bowls, the winning teams have combined to give up the football just 66 times.
On the other side, the 58 losing squads coughed up the football a ridiculous 166 times. There have only been six occasions in which a team lost the turnover battle on Super Sunday and still won the game. That last happened in Super Bowl LVI, when the Rams (2) bested the Bengals (0).