By the Numbers: Eagles in Super Bowl thanks to historic rushing offence

The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to claim their second Super Bowl championship in six seasons, though unlike their 2018 title, this one is on the back of a record-setting rushing attack.

Watch and stream coverage of Super Bowl Sunday on CTV, TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App, beginning at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.

Philadelphia's offence features a bevy of talented running backs and two AP First-Team All-Pro lineman in tackle Lane Johnson and centre Jason Kelce, but it's quarterback Jalen Hurts at the heart of their rushing success.

Including the playoffs, Hurts has 15 rushing touchdowns this season, the most by a QB in a season including playoffs in NFL history. 

He's the third QB to reach the Super Bowl after being his team's outright leader in rushing scores during the season, and is seeking to join Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers in 1994 as the only ones to win it all. 
 

If Hurts is able to knock off the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb 12, he will hold the distinction of most rushing yards ever in a season by a Super Bowl-winning QB. 

Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks had more rushing yards in 2014, but the Seahawks lost to the New England Patriots on a famous goal line interception.
 

Philadelphia is proving that ground-first offences can still win games in an increasingly pass-heavy league. 

They're just the fourth team in the last 30 seasons to make the Super Bowl after having more rushing touchdowns (32) than passing touchdowns (25). Including the playoffs, the Eagles already have the most rushing TDs in a season in NFL history (39). 

The last team to win the Super Bowl with that distinction was the 1995 Dallas Cowboys.
 

Eagles running back Miles Sanders finished the regular season with 1,269 rushing yards, the fifth most in the NFL. The last team to finish with a top-5 rusher and win the Super Bowl was the New England Patriots in 2004 - Corey Dillon finished third in the NFL that year with 1,635 yards. 

NFL's best passing offence vs. best rushing offence in Super Bowl LVII

With the Chiefs leading the NFL in passing touchdowns this season, this is just the second Super Bowl in NFL history to feature the regular-season leader in rushing touchdowns and the regular-season leader in passing touchdowns.

Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 was the only other Super Bowl to feature this matchup, with the rushing touchdown leaders (Washington Redskins) toppling the passing touchdowns leaders (Buffalo Bills) 37-24. 

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Hurts have combined for 80 passing and rushing touchdowns this season, which is third amongst all previous Super Bowl starter matchups.
 

Philadelphia booked their ticket to the Super Bowl by defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship. The 49ers finished as the top-ranked scoring defence in the league in the regular season. Now the Eagles will play the Chiefs, who finished as the top-ranked scoring offence in the regular season. 

Since the 1970 merger, the only teams to defeat the top-scoring offence and top-scoring defence in the same postseason are the 1988 49ers, 2004 Patriots and 2019 Tennessee Titans. Of that group, only the Titans failed to win the Super Bowl, falling to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship that season.
 

Watch and stream coverage of Super Bowl Sunday on CTV, TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App, beginning at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT.

Stats used courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.