It was a little less than two years ago – Sunday, February 12, 2022 — that the Eagles and Chiefs played a thrilling Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The Chiefs, behind three touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes, and the benefit of a controversial pass interference penalty in the final two minutes, kicked a late field goal to edge Philadelphia, 38-35.

Now, we stand poised to do it again.

The field will be stocked with familiar faces from that matchup two seasons ago. Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes are still the quarterbacks. Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni remain the head coaches. Stalwarts like Lane Johnson, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert will again take the field for Philadelphia, while Chris Jones, Creed Humphrey and Nick Bolton return for Kansas City. And yes, Travis Kelce will be there, too, with Tay-Tay in her luxury box hugging her BFF’s every time her boyfriend catches a four-yard flat pass. Bank on the Fox television cameras to milk those shots for all they’re worth.

And yet, while many of the faces remain, these are not the same teams who met in Glendale. Start with the Eagles. Philadelphia has transformed itself on offense behind the running of Saquon Barkley. The Eagles were a good run team in 2022, when they averaged 147 rushing yards per game. They are a great run team now. Barkley averaged 125 rushing yards alone, and as a team the Eagles were at 179 per contest. In their three playoff wins, that number is up to 226. Philadelphia simply bludgeons defenses with its run game, in a way they could not two seasons ago.

The Eagles are different on defense, too. New coordinator Vic Fangio has revamped the team’s philosophy. His base coverage shell looks the same on almost every snap, and his array of post-snap rotations force quarterbacks to diagnose fluidly. Meanwhile, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was playing for the University of Georgia when these teams met in Glendale, has emerged as a wrecking ball on the interior. Carter is a significant upgrade over the aging Fletcher Cox, who manned that position two seasons ago.

Kansas City is a different team as well. In 2022, they were a high-flying offense led by the incomparable Mahomes. The Chiefs averaged a whopping 413 yards of offense per game that season. While they were good on defense, scoring points was their calling card.

This year, the story has been different. The offense is still very good, and Mahomes remains the scariest quarterback in the world with the ball in his hands and the game on the line. But Kansas City’s yards-per-game total is down to 327, an 86-yard drop from their production two seasons ago. Their points-per-game are down as well, from 29.2 to 22.6. That’s almost a full touchdown.

Why does Kansas City remain an elite team? Their defense is significantly better. Like Philadelphia’s offense, that unit has gone from good in 2022 to great in 2024. The Chiefs are a Top 10 defense in most metrics, and have playmakers at every level. They also have a coordinator in Steve Spagnuolo who is among the best in the sport, and who seems to be getting better every season.

The Chiefs have been particularly good when it comes to defending running backs. No back has gained more than 88 rushing yards against Kansas City this season, and running backs as a whole average just 74 yards per game against them. The Chiefs kept Derek Henry in check when they met the Ravens back in September, holding him to 46 yards. So, while Saquon Barkley is a daunting task for Kansas City, so too are the Chiefs for Barkley.

In Super Bowl 57, the major storyline involved whether the Philadelphia defense could contain the Kansas City offense. That script has been flipped. Now, the question centers on who will win the matchup between the Chiefs defense and Philly’s offense.

One thing that won’t be different? Expect a tight football game. This one has the makings of another classic.