NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥 Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are pursuing history and a few of Taylor Swift鈥檚 records.
Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles stand in their way.
The Chiefs (17-2) will try to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls when they face the Eagles (17-3) on Sunday in the Superdome.
It鈥檚 a rematch from two years ago when Hurts nearly led the Eagles to a championship only to watch Mahomes snatch it away by rallying Kansas City to a 38-35 win on 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left.
Mahomes lifted the Chiefs to an overtime win against San Francisco in another Super Bowl rematch last year. Now, they鈥檙e poised for a three-peat, a word coach doesn鈥檛 use much.
"I think the only time I鈥檝e heard him say it is to the media whenever y鈥檃ll ask him about it," Mahomes said. "He鈥檚 very locked in on just, 鈥楬ow can we be great with our cadence today at practice?鈥 so that鈥檚 just the stuff that Coach Reid focuses on."
Reid won more games than any coach in franchise history during his 14 seasons in Philadelphia but couldn鈥檛 win the big one, going 1-4 in NFC championship games and losing a Super Bowl to the Patriots. He went right to Kansas City after the Eagles fired him following the 2012 season and has built a dynasty thanks to Mahomes, Kelce, Chris Jones and others.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have time to think about all that,鈥 Reid said of the three-peat. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e focused in on the job at hand here and that鈥檚 playing against a great Eagles team.鈥
Jones, the three-time All-Pro defensive tackle, echoed his coach鈥檚 viewpoint.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 talk about no three-peat,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here for. We understand that. We understand there鈥檚 one more game until the offseason and we can do whatever we want to do. Our main focus is making sure we鈥檙e prepared for the Eagles.鈥
No matter what the Chiefs say, everyone else is talking about it. No team has done it in the Super Bowl era, though the Green Bay Packers won an NFL championship in 1965 and followed by winning the first two Super Bowls. Kelce even started all the three-peat talk on stage last year when he said the team鈥檚 goal was to win three.
鈥淭his is gonna be our biggest test yet,鈥 Kelce said. 鈥淭hey got a lot of great players but the biggest thing is they play great together. You could see their communication. You could see the accountability they have, especially in the secondary. It鈥檚 not gonna make my job any easier.鈥
These Eagles are different from the group that fell just short against Kansas City in Arizona two years ago.
They have the NFL鈥檚 most dynamic player in the backfield. Barkley rushed for 2,447 yards with seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards in the regular season and playoffs.
鈥淭he goal has always been to win it, not just to get here,鈥 Barkley said.
Losing to the Chiefs two years ago only motivated Hurts even more. He鈥檚 determined to hoist a Lombardi trophy and even had a photo of him walking off the field with Kansas City鈥檚 red and yellow confetti falling around him as the background on his phone.
鈥淚t鈥檚 had a great driving force,鈥 Hurts said of that loss. 鈥淚t lit a flame, lit a fire in me, and to have this opportunity again is exactly what you work for.鈥
Hurts, Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and a dominant offensive line present a major challenge for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The Eagles also have the league鈥檚 No. 1-ranked defense, featuring eight new starters from 2022 and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean plus the emergence of defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith has transformed a defensive unit that fell apart last season.
鈥淲e鈥檙e fortunate to have Steve Spagnuolo, but I tell you that Vic is one of those guys,鈥 Reid said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just one of those really creative defensive minds that survived a long time in this league. He鈥檚 been time-tested, and, he has the trust of his players.鈥
If the Chiefs win, Reid and Mahomes will be one step closer to Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. They鈥檙e halfway to the six Belichick and Brady won together in New England and Mahomes is still four away from Brady鈥檚 seven rings.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to be the greatest Patrick Mahomes that I can be. That鈥檚 obviously a goal of anyone鈥檚 鈥 to be the greatest at their profession 鈥 but in order to do that, you have to be the greatest that you can be every single day,鈥 Mahomes said.
鈥淲henever I鈥檓 done with football, if I leave everything out there 鈥 the way that I feel like I have so far 鈥 as far as effort and mentality, I鈥檒l be happy with the results.鈥
A win for Kansas City also would give Kelce his fourth ring, the same number of Grammy Awards his pop star girlfriend has won for best album. Overall, Kelce has 18 playoff wins and Swift has 14 Grammys.
鈥淪he鈥檚 up there being the superstar that she is and never taking no for an answer and always working her tail off. I better match that energy for sure,鈥 Kelce said.
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