The NFL Kickoff curse: Why the Eagles and Cowboys should forget the Super Bowl

The Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Kickoff Game for the 2025 season, with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and company heading into the new campaign looking to become only the ninth franchise to win back-to-back Super Bowls after their triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans in February.

History not on Philadelphia’s side

That is much easier said than done, however. The Chiefs won consecutive Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023, but before that you have to go back 50 years to find the last time two different franchises pulled off the feat consecutively. The Miami Dolphins went back-to-back in 1973-74, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1975-76.

That statistic ties directly to the NFL Kickoff Game, which was first played in 2002. Since 2004, it has usually been hosted by the defending Super Bowl champion, with only two exceptions. In 2013, the Baltimore Ravens opened on the road because of a scheduling conflict with the Orioles. In 2019, the New England Patriots played on Sunday Night Football instead of the Thursday opener.

So while playing in the NFL Kickoff Game generally means there’s a 50% chance you lifted the Lombardi Trophy the previous season, the outlook for the future is incredibly bleak (sorry, Eagles and Cowboys fans).

The NFL Kickoff Game curse

Of the 46 teams that have appeared in the 23 previous Kickoff Games, only two went on to reach the Super Bowl five months later.

Eagles’ slim Super Bowl hopes, Cowboys’ daunting task

In September 2004, the Patriots edged the Indianapolis Colts in the opener and went on to beat the Eagles in Jacksonville to secure their second straight title.

Nineteen years later, in 2023, the Chiefs lost a surprise opener at home to the Detroit Lions but recovered to win back-to-back championships, defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas in February 2024.

As the most recent Super Bowl winners, the Eagles may still have a glimmer of hope if they can follow in the footsteps of New England and Kansas City. The Cowboys’ outlook, though, is even more daunting. No NFL Kickoff participant that wasn’t the defending champion has ever reached the Super Bowl.

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