Jay Biggerstaff/USA Today Sports
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons, when the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles both punched their tickets to Super Bowl 57, the NFL was gifted a matchup between the two best offenses in football. That makes for great storylines like a WWE promo with Head coaches Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni, the masterminds of these league-leading attacks, and it should come as no surprise that the two are very connected.
In fact, the two coaches used to work with their upcoming opponent. Reid was famously the Eagles head coach for 14 seasons and Sirianni spent the first four years of his career as a Chiefs’ assistant. That’s one of the major storylines. The other storyline is for the first time in Super Bowl history, two brothers will be on the field simultaneously and playing on opposing teams. Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are two of the league’s best at their respective positions, and both already have one Super Bowl win under their belts.
This Sunday, one of the brothers will get their second ring in Super Bowl LVII. While we have recently seen brothers John and Jim Harbaugh coach against each other in the Super Bowl, it’s never happened amongst the players.
Screenshot by: @LanceTHESPOKEN/Twitter
I am glad the parents of Travis and Jason will get to witness this once in a lifetime Super Bowl. The other storyline is the recent news reported by @LanceTHESPOKEN on Twitter that majority of the ESPN employees (46 well-known names including Chiefs ESPN writer Adam Teicher) are picking the Eagles to beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. The game is bound to be a tight contest given the latest betting odds.
At the time of writing, the line is at -1.5 for the Eagles, which means that the Chiefs are the underdogs heading into the big game. However, the odds could sway any way between now and the start of the game. This would depend on injuries and updates from either team before they take the gridiron at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
Interestingly, this is the first time that Chiefs MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been the underdog in a playoff game. The 27-year-old has an impressive 10-3 record in the postseason and has also found Super Bowl success in 2020.
But Mahomes has been dealing with an ankle injury that he suffered in the divisional round win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many believe that Mahomes’ injury could be the reason why the Chiefs are tipped as the underdogs for this Sunday’s game. Because of that storyline behind the Chiefs, this makes the Eagles the favorite to win the Super Bowl by the so-called experts. The Eagles have steamrolled their opponents with Jalen Hurts as their starting quarterback.
The 24-year-old has looked like a man on a mission this season, leading Philadelphia to 16 wins as a starter. Hurts’ red-hot form has led the bookmakers to believe that the Eagles are the best-equipped team to win the Lombardi Trophy. However, there are ways to beat the MVP candidate Hurts. Apply pressure early and often on Jordan Mailata, Hurts’ blindside protector. That would expose Hurts is still raw as a passer. He doesn’t always see pressure well. Sometimes Hurts tries to do too much and that leads to some bad turnovers.
It was November of this season in 2022 when the Eagles’ run as the NFL’s final remaining undefeated team came to an end Monday night football, as a Washington Commanders team that entered the night as double-digit underdogs came away with a shocking 32-21 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Chiefs have beaten this same team without their new 2022 pieces in 2021 in a 42-30 win. How did the Commanders who were then 5-5 do it? A combination of strong Washington play, Philadelphia mistakes and some said questionable officiating kept the Eagles (who were 8-1 at the end of that game) from any further pursuit of the 1972 Miami Dolphins’ undefeated mark.
What can the Chiefs do that the Commanders did?
- Controlling the clock
- Continue the aggression at the Line of Scrimmage from both the Offensive/Defensive Line
- Efficient play from Patrick Mahomes attacking their Zone heavy Secondary
- Pressure Hurts through his left tackle, Jordan Mailata
- Get safety help for Jaylen Watson against AJ Brown
This team isn’t worried about doubters. We love them. They might call the Chiefs 2022 team the luckiest team to win the Super Bowl since the 2007 Giants whose defense was led by then-Giants defensive coordinator (now Chiefs DC) Steve Spagnuolo. They were the underdogs against an undefeated Patriots team that could’ve gone down as one of the greatest team’s in NFL history. That was ruined by the toughness of Spags’ unit and a great QB play of Eli Manning to pull off the upset. I remember in 2013, the Broncos led by Peyton Manning with the record breaking 55 TD pass season were favored over the Legion of Boom Seahawks and the rest is history. The Seahawks as the underdogs blew out the Broncos 43-8 in a one-sided game.
Photo by: AP
All I am saying is that just like the Seahawks/Broncos Super Bowl, the Chiefs might prove their doubters wrong because you’re doubting a team that loss it’s biggest weapon in Tyreek Hill, had the NFL’s Hardest schedule of 2022 and still went 16-3, 7-time AFC West champions and 3-time AFC Champions. The Eagles as talented as they are had the Easiest schedule of 2022. There is no way that the team with the easiest schedule should be favorited this much over a well-known championship team like the Chiefs.
I wouldn’t be shocked that after Sunday, the whole world will be on the Kansas City bandwagon (again). Chiefs 38 Eagles 24. The Chiefs need to listen to Tupac Shakur’s Me Against the World going into Sunday because its the Chiefs (us) against the World.
