All Roads Lead to Super Bowl LVII Quiz

Answer: Chiefs 27-20

The Chiefs were leading comfortably 20-10 at the start of the fourth quarter but Jacksonville had the ball, and after seven plays and 75 yards, Etienne scored a 4-yard touchdown with an extra point being good. The Chiefs were having none of that and in 10 plays Mahomes marched them down the field until he connected with Valdes-Scantling with a 6-yard pass to score their own converted touchdown with 7.08 to play.

The Chiefs then defended grimly, punting on their last two drives, frustrating the Jaguars who could only manage a fumble, interception and field goal on their last three plays.

The Chiefs were through to the AFC Championship Round.

Answer: Bills' Safety Damar Hamlin (#3) had a cardiac arrest when playing the Bengals at Cincinnati two weeks ago

Damar Hamlin, on January 2, 2023, during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, collapsed on the field in the first quarter after tackling wide receiver Tee Higgins who collided with Hamlin's chest. Following the play, Hamlin stood up, before passing out and falling backwards and remained motionless. First responders started CPR, and he needed defibrillation.

He was taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he was reported to be in critical condition. Later the hospital reported that Hamlin had initially suffered cardiac arrest and his heartbeat was restored on-field. He eventually recovered enough to be transferred to a medical centre in Buffalo before being discharged home for further rehabilitation.after a week

The game was initially suspended and then cancelled. There was enormous support for Hamlin and his family. At subsequent Bills games, fans started wearing clothing featuring the number 3 , Hamlin's Bills' number. It was ironic that the Bills played the Bengals in the playoffs only two weeks later.

Answer: Bengals 27-10

On a bleak snowy day when the pitch was difficult to delineate, the Bills were expected to dominate but they were never in this match. The Bengals had first use of the ball and scored a touchdown marching 79 yards in six plays. They converted. The Bills went three and out. The Bengals scored again on their next carry, a ten-play 72-yard effort with Burrow throwing short to Hurst who scored an 18-yard TD which was converted. The Bills punted next play after failing to make a first down again.

The Bills did manage to score a converted touchdown on their opening drive of the second quarter but that was as close as they got. They only troubled the scorers once again for a solitary field goal whereas the Bengals scored a touchdown in the third quarter and field goals in the second and fourth quarters to make a final score of 27-10. Bengals moving on.

Answer: Eagles 38-7

The Giants 9-3-1, and unlikely Wild Card Round winners thought they were a chance as Eagles (14-3). Eagles QB Jalen Hurts missed two matches with a sprained shoulder and the Eagles went from 12-1 to 12-3. On the Eagles' last regular season match, also against the Giants, the Eagles chose a vanilla offence designed to protect Hurts. The Eagles edged the Giants that match 22-16.

Any doubts about Hurts' shoulder dissipated in their first play of the playoff when the Giants scored a 75-yard play with Hurts passing short right to Goedert for 16 yards. That became a procession. They had 28 points and four touchdowns on the scoreboard before halftime. The Giants opened their scoring with a converted touchdown in the third quarter and didn't let the Eagles score that quarter but that was also the end of the Giants' scoring. The Eagles added ten more points in the final quarter to win 38-7.

Answer: 2: Cowboys 1, 49ers 1

Brock Purdy, 49ers' QB, late in the third quarter with the scores locked at 9, marched his team downfield for 6 minutes and 10 plays for Christian McCaffery to score their only touchdown of the match. The 49ers then doubled down the defence with only another field goal apiece to each side to add to each side's low total. The 49ers' other 12 points came from a total of four field goals.
It looked promising for Dallas early in the second quarter when they scored a 14-play, 79-yard touchdown lasting eight minutes but the missed extra point was costly as the 49ers just matched their score with field goals. Dallas QB, Dak Prescott threw two interceptions which did not help the Cowboys' cause.

Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 7th round of the draft, Mr Irrelevant, had gone 7-0 as a starter.

Answer: Chiefs by three points with a last minute field goal

In the corresponding game a year earlier, the Chiefs lost to the Bengals by three points in overtime which denied the Chiefs their third straight Super Bowl appearance. In this game, with Patrick Mahomes nursing an injured ankle, the match was not the entertainment special people were expecting. It was a dour affair with two touchdowns apiece with the scores tied twice at 13 apiece and 20 apiece.

At 20-20, there was 13.3 on the clock. The Chiefs punted, then the Bengals were intercepted and then the Chiefs punted again. With the Bengals on their 28-yard line and third and 8, Burrow was sacked, forcing the Bengals to punt at fourth and 15 with only 41 seconds on the clock. The Chiefs took the punt on their 18-yard line. Moore took the kick return to the 47-yard line before going out of bounds. The Chiefs made 11 yards on their next three plays plus were helped by a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. KC's kicker Butker kicked a 45-yard field goal to win the match for the Chiefs.

Answer: Eagles 31-7

Another not-so-close match. The Eagles scored a converted touchdown in the only score of the first quarter. The 49ers drew level in the second quarter with their own TD but it was short-lived as the Eagles scored straight after, 14-7. Incredibly third-string QB, Brock Purdy (but 7-0) injured his elbow and was replaced by fourth-stringer Josh Johnson who also was injured. forcing Purdy back on with his injured elbow.

The 49ers had essentially no passing game from that point forwards and the Eagles ran away with the game 31-7.

Answer: No

The two teams have only met ten times before Super Bowl LVII (nine regular season once, post season), with the Chiefs winning six of those matches. The Chiefs scored 256 points and the Eagles scored 254.

The Chiefs played the Green Bay Packers in the very first Super Bowl in 1967 but went down 35-10. Three years later in Super Bowl IV, they rolled the Minnesota Vikings 23-7. There was a long gap before the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs won their second Super Bowl (LIV) in 2020 beating the 49ers 31-20. They couldn't repeat that effort next year when the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers trounced them 31-9.

Philadelphia's first appearance was in Super Bowl XV in 1981 when they lost to the Oakland Raiders 27-10. Their next appearance was in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004 where they lost narrowly 24-21 to the New England Patriots. They reversed that in Super Bowl LII in 2017 when they won their first Bowl 41-33.

Answer: Highest scoring Super Bowl in history

State Farm Stadium in Glendale opened in 2006. This was the third Super Bowl it hosted. The stadium features a retractable roof and a roll-out natural turf (The turf was criticised by some commentators for being too slippery on match day).

When this match was played in February 2023, the highest Super Bowl score was when the 49ers beat the Chargers 49-26 for a combined 75 points in Super Bowl XXIX (January 1995). The second highest was when Philadelphia beat the Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII (February 2018). This one wasn't far behind and it did create a record for the highest number of points scored by a losing team.

This was the first time in five years that both top seeds qualified for the Super Bowl - in February 2018, the top-seeded Eagles who'd won the NFC Championship played the top-seeded Patriots who'd won the AFC championship match.

Answer: Yes

The Eagles received the ball first and took the ball forward 75 yards in 11 plays in 4:51. A touchdown was signalled when Gainwell rushed up the middle for four yards but he was ruled short on review. In the next play. Hurts stayed behind his forward line which barged over the line. Elliot kicked the extra point.

The Chiefs' first play started at 10.09 remaining in the first quarter. They made shorter work of their first play: Six plays, 3:12 in possession before the old duo of Mahomes and Kelce combined for an 18-yard pass play when Kelce stepped over the touchline. The Eagles punted on their next play and the Chiefs missed a field goal. On their third possession of the half, the Eagles scored their most spectacular touchdown when Hurts threw a pass deep left to AJ Brown for a 45 yards touchdown.

Answer: Hurts fumbled, KC recovered and scored a touchdown

The first half was dominated by the Eagles who literally held the ball for twice as long as the Chiefs in the first half. Leading 14-7, Hurts fumbles on his own 45-yard line, and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton recovers and runs 44 yards to score a touchdown against the run of play. 14 apiece.

At this stage, the fumble did not seem costly as the Eagles scored another Hurts rushed touchdown which was converted, and then the Chiefs punted (their only punt of the match) and the Eagles finished the half with a field goal to lead 24-14.

Answer: Kadarius Toney's kick return was a Super Bowl record of 65 yards

If the first half was dominated by the Eagles, then the second half was dominated by the Chiefs. The Chiefs were 10 points 24-14 behind but Pacheco scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it a one-score game. The Eagles took 17 plays and 7:45 to score a field goal to make it 27-21. The Chiefs then marched 75 yards downfield in 9 plays in 4:45 to take their first lead of the match 28-27.

In the shortest completed play of the day, the Eagles were forced to kick on fourth and three. The Eagles' Siposs punted 38 yards to the Chiefs' 30-yard line and Kadarius Toney returned the kick for a Super Bowl record of 65 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the 5-yard line. The Chiefs only need three plays for Moore to score a touchdown. With the extra point, the Chiefs led 35-28. The Eagles were not finished. Hurts scored his third touchdown and subsequent conversion to have tied scores with 5:15 to go.

Answer: Butker kicked a 27 yard field goal.

In a match that contained only seventeen plays (with only three punts), the Chiefs only had the ball for four plays in the second half and they scored three touchdowns and a field goal on each of those plays (they could have scored four touchdowns but purposely did not score one on the last play). With a halftime score of 24-14, the Chiefs made up a 10-point deficit in spectacular style. Three plays - three touchdowns, the Eagles had a field goal, a punt and a touchdown on their three second-half plays (not counting the eight seconds they had for their fourth play at the end).

It was the genius of Coach Andy Reid that won the game for the Chiefs. With scores locked at 35 apiece with 5.15 left on the clock, Reid figured if the Eagles did not get the ball back, they couldn't win. The Chiefs started their last possession on their own 25-yard line and marched 66 yards up the field in ten plays. It nearly came unstuck when Mahomes threw an incomplete pass on third and 8 but a penalty flag was thrown for holding, and from the ensuing play Jerrick McKinnon found the Eagles line wide open with 1.54 remaining and slid at the two. In the next two plays, Mahomes took a kneel to wind down the clock. This left Harrison Butker to kick a 27-yard field goal with 11 seconds to play (He missed a 42-yard attempt earlier when he hit the doink). His attempt was good, giving Philly the ball back for eight seconds. Hurts threw an unsuccessful Hail Mary.
The Chiefs had won their second Super Bowl in four years.

Answer: He gave up only one interception

Jalen Hurts stats look better than those of Patrick Mahomes! He threw over a hundred yards more than Mahomes with 304 yards from 27/38 passes with no intercepts and one touchdown. He scored a further three touchdowns himself plus a two-point conversion and was not sacked. His 70 yards rushing was a record for a quarterback in a Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts was 24

Mahomes completed 21 of his 27 pass attempts for 182 yards and three touchdowns, was not sacked and threw no interceptions. He also ran for 44 yards. His courage in playing on a damaged ankle was remarkable.

Answer: Won his third Super Bowl Ring

Patrick Mahomes was selected 10th in the 2017 Draft and was Alex Smith's understudy for a year before he was named as starting quarterback in 2018. He threw 5097 yards that year, one of only nine quarterbacks to achieve this (In 2022 he threw 5250 yards - the only QB this season to reach this figure). He won the Super Bowl for the Chiefs in 2019, and 2022, and had an unsuccessful trip to the Super Bowl in 2020 when the Chiefs were beaten by Tom Brady's Buccaneers 31-9.

In February 2023 he was awarded his second Super Bowl MVP. He also claimed the (regular season) Most Valuable Player award, and was the league leader in both passing yards and passing touchdowns (41 nearest competitor - Justin Herbert on 35), becoming the first player in NFL history to achieve all four feats in a season.