Super Bowl LVII Set: 2023 Patriots Opponents Chiefs, Eagles Playing for Championship
Super Bowl LVII will include the country crooning of Chris Stapleton, Barbados bombshell Rihanna, the two teams with the best record in the NFL during the regular season and - for the fourth consecutive year - not a hint of the New England Patriots.
While the Pats are already scouting for the 2023 season at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday earned berths to the NFL's title game Feb. 12 in Las Vegas. The Eagles benefitted from two more injuries to San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks in a convincing 31-7 rout in the NFC Championship Game, while the Chiefs got a late field goal - after a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty - to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC Championship Game.
The Eagles opened as two-point favorites over the Chiefs.
New England endured its share of quarterback woes during an 8-9 season that ultimately prompted Bill Belichick to ditch Matt Patricia and re-hire Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator. But while the Pats used Mac Jones, veteran Brian Hoyer and rookie Bailey Zappe, the 49ers resorted to a fourth-string journeyman in their loss in Philly. After Trey Lance and former Patriot Jimmy Garoppolo went down during the regular season, rookie Brock Purdy was injured on a hit in the pocket early, forcing Josh Johnson into action.
New England beat the Chiefs on the way to its last Super Bowl in 2019, but has lost the last two regular-season meetings in 2019 and 2020.
The Patriots are 1-1 against the Eagles in Super Bowls, winning XXXIX in Jacksonville in 2005 and dropping LII in Minneapolis in 2018. New England won the most recent meeting, 17-10 at Philly in November 2019. This will mark the first time since 1980 that the Eagles play a team other than New England in the Super Bowl.
Both the Eagles and Chiefs will visit Gillette Stadium for games in 2023.
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