History is on Patrick Mahomes' side ahead of Super Bowl rematch with Jalen Hurts

The stage is set for Super Bowl LIX. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are just hours away from kickoff. Tonight, one team will celebrate under confetti and champagne showers. The other will return to a locker room with deafening silence and broken hearts. 

Super Bowl LIX is shaped by storylines of legacy, redemption and revenge. The Chiefs are looking to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowl championships, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has another opportunity to punish the franchise that fired him after the 2012 season. 

The Eagles, who are making their second Super Bowl appearance in the past three years, are looking to avenge their loss in Super Bowl LVII two years ago. Philadelphia had control of the game early, but a few sloppy mistakes — and a slick field — proved too costly to overcome. Assisted by a scoop-and-score defensive touchdown and an untimely defensive holding penalty, the Chiefs were able to mount a fourth-quarter comeback to pull off a 38-35 victory.

Super Bowl history favors Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes over Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts

History suggests that fate will not be kind to the Eagles. The battle between Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts will be just the fourth quarterback rematch in Super Bowl history, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. In each of the previous three instances, the quarterback who won the first matchup also won the rematch.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw defeated Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach in Super Bowl X (1976) and Super Bowl XIII (1979). Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman pulled off back-to-back victories over Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly in Super Bowl XXVII (1993) and Super Bowl XXVIII (1994). Then, there were the unfathomable victories of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning over New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII (2008) and Super Bowl XLVI (2012).

Hurts isn’t the only one who will have to defy history in order to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni will become the fifth pair of head coaches to face each other in multiple Super Bowls. In each of the previous four instances, the same head coach won both games. 

Steelers head coach Chuck Noll defeated Cowboys head coach Tom Landry in the aforementioned Super Bowls between Bradshaw and Staubach. Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson defeated Bills coach Marv Levi in Aikman’s victories over Kelly. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin defeated Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in Eli Manning’s two Super Bowl wins. Lastly, Reid defeated San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan in Super Bowl LIV (2020) and Super Bowl LVIII (2024).