Super Bowl LVII Preview: Eagles vs Chiefs

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GLENDALE – State Farm Stadium is the host of the NFL’s final showdown. The beautiful serene desert with the perfect rocky landscape and mountains in the distance provides the perfect calm before the NFL’s winner take all game begins. The Eagles look like the team of destiny. The defense has stepped up at times but it’s the offense that makes the really big things happen. There can’t be enough said about the Eagles brilliant draft night trade with the Tennessee Titans to get A.J. Brown on the team. Some Titans fans may feel that’s a trade that the team will regret for years. However, here we are many months later. The Eagles benefited from the trade and quarterback Jalen Hurts took virtually no time to make Brown the top receiver in the NFC East, perhaps the entire NFC. On the other side, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were here before. The Chiefs recent Super Bowl history was one win and a tough loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during Tom Brady’s first year with the team.

This is Hurts’ first time in the Super Bowl and it’s only the second time in franchise history that the Eagles are here. Hurts has the dynamic duo of Brown and DaVonta Smith. Miles Sanders is an effectively elusive running back when healthy but durability is his greatest challenge. Will he finish the Super Bowl and put up big yards too? That’s one of the key points for an Eagles win. Sanders must finish the game and put up 75+ yards with at least a touchdown. The Eagles passing game is effective but to keep ahead of the Chiefs, a team must be ready to score more than four touchdowns.

Some of the playoff games were much lower-scoring than expected so anything’s possible. However, Mahomes can be very effective with his newly assembled group of receivers of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, and Skye Moore. It was said numerous times but the fact remained that developing rapport with so many new offensive players was a monumentally difficult task for Mahomes. However, Mahomes made it look all too easy and that was part of the reason the Chiefs made it to the final, epic showdown. The emergence of running back Isaiah Pacheco was also a huge boost to the Chiefs path to the Super Bowl.

What about the defenses? Can we expect a low-scoring game? The Eagles definitely have one of the better defenses in the NFL with the eighth-best defense in the NFL. The top-tier players include defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, defensive ends Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett (coming off a pro bowl appearance), and the rookie defensive tackle out of Georgia, Jordan Davis. The Chiefs rank at number 16 in total defense according to Pro Sports Reference. The Chiefs defense features the phenomenal power defensive tackle Chris Jones who can disrupt the timing of Hurts. Jones might be able to slow down Sanders as well.

This feels like it could be anyone’s game but familiarity and experience provide a distinct advantage.

Prediction

Chiefs 35 Eagles 31