PHOENIX (AP) – Minutes after Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes landed in Phoenix, players, coaches and staff hung a “Kingdom of the Chiefs” flag from the window as they stepped off the plane and crossed the runway.
About an hour later, the Philadelphia Eagles arrived in Arizona, with quarterback Jalen Hurts, coach Nick Sirianni and others heading to the bus park with a “This is a Philly Thing” flag waving.
Super Bowl 57 is one week away.
The Chiefs will face the Eagles on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona.
Both teams landed at Goldwater Air National Guard Base in perfect Phoenix winter weather – bright sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. Team members occasionally stopped to take photos and videos along the trail.
Former Chiefs star Christian Okoye was on hand to hand out hats to Kansas City players as they got off the plane. The former running star lives in Southern California and made a short trip to Phoenix.
“They called me and wanted me to come here and take over the team,” Okoye said. “So I said, ‘Yeah, of course’ — my team is here to win the Super Bowl.”
Even though the bettors disagree with Okoye and give the Eagles a slight advantage, expect a good game. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Philadelphia opened as a 1 1/2-point favorite.
The Chiefs won their third Super Bowl in four seasons when Harrison Butker hit a 45-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to give Kansas City a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship last weekend.
The Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC title game. They have looked dominant in the playoffs thus far, including a 38-7 win over the New York Giants in the divisional round.
Philadelphia returned to the Super Bowl after five years with a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots.
Now, a new generation of Eagles, led by Hurts and Sirianni, is coming to Arizona to win another title.
Both teams will attend Monday’s Super Bowl LVII Opening Night in downtown Phoenix, where all players and coaches from both teams are available for the annual media extravaganza.
Then it’s business. The Chiefs practice all week at Arizona State’s football facilities, while the Eagles train at the Arizona Cardinals practice facility.
There’s no shortage of storylines: Kansas City coach Andy Reid plays his former team in a game he coached in Super Bowl 39.
There’s also a sibling rivalry between Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Philadelphia center Jason Kelce.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
All news on the site does not represent the views of the site, but we automatically submit this news and translate it using software technology on the site, rather than a human editor.
