We’ve nearly made it. After three weeks of preseason play, 18 weeks of regular-season action, and two weeks of playoffs, Sunday’s Championship Games will determine which teams play in Super Bowl 57.
The Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Francisco 49ers are all still alive. Which of the four potential Super Bowl matchups would be the most intriguing?
Potential Super Bowl Matchups Ranked
4) Chiefs vs. 49ers
This would be a rematch of the Super Bowl we saw just three years ago. Down 20-10 well into the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to three touchdown drives in the final six minutes and change as Kansas City emerged with the victory.
A Chiefs-49ers redux would give Kyle Shanahan a chance to get revenge and earn his first Lombardi Trophy. Perhaps more importantly, Kansas City vs. San Francisco would pit the NFL’s best offense against the league’s top defense. How would Andy Reid game plan to face DeMeco Ryans’ unit this time around? Could Fred Warner help slow down Travis Kelce?
Mahomes and the Chiefs have hosted five consecutive AFC title games, but adding another Super Bowl to the mix would truly move this Kansas City iteration into a place among the all-time great dynasties.
3) 49ers vs. Bengals
Speaking of revenge, a 49ers-Bengals Super Bowl would allow Cincinnati the opportunity to avenge two losses from more than 30 years ago. Joe Montana and the 49ers beat Ken Anderson’s Bengals in Super Bowl XVI, then took down a Boomer Esiason-led Cincinnati squad in Super Bowl XXIII.
MORE: How the Cincinnati Bengals Hold Clear Advantages Over Kansas City Chiefs
Brock Purdy will likely be the main storyline if he’s involved in this year’s Super Bowl. The final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy has already set new high-water marks for future “Mr. Irrelevants.” But winning a Super Bowl as a rookie seventh-rounder would eclipse what nearly anyone thought was possible when Purdy took over for Jimmy Garoppolo in December.
The Bengals nearly made it to the mountaintop last season. After a surprising playoff run that saw them take down the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, and Chiefs, Cincinnati narrowly lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl. Joe Burrow is now viewed as a top-three NFL quarterback, and winning a ring in just his third pro campaign would put him on a Hall of Fame track.
2) Bengals vs. Eagles
Burrow faced the Eagles during his rookie campaign when Carson Wentz was still Philadelphia’s starting quarterback. He’s never played against Jalen Hurts in the NFL, but the two did square off in the 2019 College Football Semifinals. Burrow tossed seven touchdowns and ran for another as LSU dominated Oklahoma 63-28.
Burrow and Hurts are now two of the NFL’s best signal-callers. While a Bengals-Eagles Super Bowl likely wouldn’t result in 91 total points, it could be a high-scoring affair. Cincinnati and Philadelphia rank top five in offensive efficiency, and these clubs boast two of the more dynamic wide receiver duos in the league.
However, the Bengals and Eagles also have near-elite defenses. This Super Bowl would likely be a battle of adjustments as coordinators on both sides tweak their schemes. Between Shane Steichen, Jonathan Gannon, Brian Callahan, and Lou Anarumo, Cincinnati and Philadelphia have three coordinators in the running for head coaching jobs and another — Anarumo — who should be.
1) Eagles vs. Chiefs
We’ve gotten lucky enough to see the four best NFL teams advance to their respective conference title games. Eagles-Chiefs, a matchup of the NFC and AFC’s top seeds, would represent a contest between the clubs that have been atop their respective conferences for most of the season.
Since becoming Kansas City’s head coach, Andy Reid is 3-0 against Philadelphia, but a Super Bowl victory over his old team would mean more than any regular-season victory. Only one of those games included Mahomes or Hurts, a Week 4 matchup in 2021 that involved 72 combined points.
MORE: 3 Kansas City Chiefs Keys to Victory vs. the Cincinnati Bengals
While the core of these teams has stayed relatively intact since that contest, there are two notable changes: the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill, and the Eagles acquired A.J. Brown. Kansas City hasn’t missed a beat with Hill gone, while Brown has only made Philadelphia’s offense all the more explosive.
Any of the four potential Super Bowl matchups will be excellent, and there isn’t a team among the four remaining that doesn’t deserve to have made it this far. But Eagles vs. Chiefs would present the most explosive storylines and, hopefully, the most explosive game.
