Super Bowl LVII: Philadelphia Eagles to face Kansas City Chiefs.

Following a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Chiefs have qualified for Super Bowl LVII.

Patrick Mahomes guided the Chiefs to victory in a close game despite suffering a high ankle sprain in last week’s Divisional Round triumph over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After two field goals, Kansas City led 6-0. Just before halftime, Mahomes connected with his go-to target, tight end Travis Kelce, for a touchdown to increase the advantage to 13-3. Due to a back issue, Kelce was designated as questionable to play before the game.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow connected with wide receiver Tee Higgins for a touchdown pass of 27 yards on the team’s opening offensive play of the second half, tying the score at 13. However, the Chiefs immediately took the lead back after a clearly injured Patrick Mahomes threw a pinpoint touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Up until the opening play of the fourth quarter, the Bengals’ explosive attack was neutralized by the Chiefs’ defense.

Burrow sent the ball down the field on fourth down and connected with Ja’Marr Chase for a 35-yard gain to put Cincinnati well into Kansas City territory. The Bengals tied the game once more two plays later on a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Samaje Perine.

With less than a minute left and the score tied at 20, the Chiefs sacked Burrow on third down to give them the ball back. Skyy Moore of the Chiefs returned the Bengals’ punt 29 yards, giving the team strong field position. When Mahomes scrambled on third down, Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai shoved him as he walked out of bounds and was penalized for unnecessary roughness for 15 yards, putting the Chiefs in field goal range.

Harrison Butker, the kicker for Kansas City, made the 45-yard field goal to advance the Chiefs to their third Super Bowl in four seasons.

For the first time ever, both teams playing for the Super Bowl on February 12 will feature Black quarterbacks.

While Jalen Hurts of the Eagles has a chance to become the fourth Black quarterback to win the Lombardi Trophy, Mahomes, who became the third Black quarterback to win the Super Bowl in 2020, is hoping to become the first Black quarterback in history to win multiple championship games.

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 earlier in the day at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to make their first appearance in the championship game since the 2017–18 campaign.

Following a hit by Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick that caused a turnover in the first quarter, rookie starting quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a right elbow injury, temporarily leaving the 49ers without him. Josh Johnson, San Francisco’s backup quarterback, took over for Purdy until the third quarter before being forced to leave the game due to a concussion.

Purdy returned to the game despite having an injured elbow, but the 49ers offense struggled to score any scores.

The 49ers defense was completely destroyed by Eagles quarterback Hurts and the run game for Philadelphia, who amassed 148 rushing yards and scored all four touchdowns on the ground. Hurts (15) surpassed Cameron Newton (14) for the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single season in NFL history, including playoffs, after his touchdown run in the fourth quarter, according to NFL Research.