Jason Kelce vs. Travis Kelce, number 1 seed vs. number 1 seed, Andy Reid vs. his former team.

Storylines fill the air as the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs travel to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Super 57 will be the first match where the brothers will be pitted against each other. It will be a battle of number 1 seeds. Lastly, it will be Andy Ried vs. his former team. Will the Eagles fly like majestic creatures or will the Chiefs and Patrick Mahones spoil their flight?

Eagles 

The Eagles went into the offseason with no solid chance to keep up with the contenders in the NFC and  AFC.  But then Wizard of a GM Howie Rossuman struck again when he traded for all-pro WR A.J. Brown. His sorcery sparked a fire in the Eagles’ locker room and slowly, a contender started to form. The team wasn’t taken seriously by analysts as many saw Jalen Hurts as a liability. Some so-called experts believed Jalen Hurts was on the hot seat and ranked the Eagles as the 15th-best team in the NFL, one spot ahead of the dead middle in the league.

The Eagles began the season on fire and were perfect until they dropped a close week 9 Monday night game against division rivals, the Washington Commanders. The Eagles regained the hot start and breezed through the rest of the season with a record of 14-3, claiming the top seed in the NFC. With the offense headed by a newly constructed Jalen Hurts, they held the number 3 overall offense in the league and the number 2 scoring offense.

However, this team has great balance as their defense supports the offense and they may be even more dominant. They have been led by emerging elite edge rusher Haason Reddick. Overall, the Eagles are the number 2 defense in the league but lead the league in sacks. This team is in complete equilibrium with studs at every position group on both sides of the ball. 

The three keys to the game for the Eagles are: can their pass rush get home, can they protect Jalen Hurts, and can Jalen Hurts play maturely? If their pass rush can get home and the Eagles can force Mahomes to run around on his bad ankle, then it will be deja vu of the 2021 Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Buccaneers. Just like the Eagles, the Chiefs have a potent pass rush that could take over a game; it is imperative that the veterans like Jason Kecle play big games and protect Jalen Hurts. Lastly, Jalen Hurts has to play maturely. He has played in national championship games in college, but this is the Super Bowl and if he makes a young quarterback mistake against a high-powered Chiefs offense, the game could spiral out of hand quickly. 

Chiefs

Completely opposite of the Eagles, the Chiefs started their offseason by trading away star speed demon WR Tyreek Hill. Some were concerned about the team’s ability to replace the production of Hill and the pressure he put on the defense even when he didn’t have the ball in his hands. Then, they let one of the league’s best Safeties in Tyrann Mathieu leave in free agency. Overall, many saw the Chiefs’ offseason as mediocre at best. But even with the loss of some key pieces, they enter as the number 4 team in the NFL. 

The Chiefs had a great year winning 14 games. Two of their three losses came against playoff teams. They had the second-best pass rush in the league and the number 1 passing offense in the league. Patrick Mahomes squelched all the doubters by winning MVP even after losing Tyreek Hill. Travis Kelce was phenomenal as well. The emergence of rookie running back Isiah Pacheco has allowed the passing attack to run by creating a run-game threat. Due to this, he may be a dark horse to be an x-factor in this Super Bowl. On the other side of the ball, Chris Jones has led the pass-rushing unit to the second spot in the entire league only behind the Eagles. Overall, the Chiefs are a well-oiled experienced machine; however, they have a few nagging injuries like the one to Patrick Mahomes that could cause the machine to falter.

My three keys to the game are to protect Patrick Mahomes, prevent big plays, and confuse Jason Kelce. If the Chiefs can not protect Mahomes, they are in big trouble because even though he is known for making ridiculous plays on the move, I don’t know how his ankle will hold up if he has to do it all game. Secondly, the Eagles’ offense, just like the Chiefs, is built around big plays. So if you can keep guys in front of you in the secondary, it will give you a chance to get to Jalen Hurts and shut down the Eagles’ potent offenses. Lastly, you have to confuse Jason Kecle. Kelce is one of the greatest centers of all time and the Eagles’ offense runs through him.

It is necessary for the Chief to mix up looks and disguise pressure in order to throw off Jason Kelce’s protection calls at the line and shut down the Eagles’ RPO offense. If the Chiefs can down all three, they will put themselves in a good position to raise the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night.

Prediction 

There is an old expression that has been ringing in my head for the past couple of days and that is, “defense wins championships.” So I went back and looked at my previous predictions and both times, the team with the better pass rush won the game. Well, this year we have the two best pass-rushing teams going against each other, so does the number one pass-rushing team have that much of an advantage? Yes, and it is not because of the pass rush itself; it is because of how good the Eagles’ secondary is. Led by James Bradberry and  Darius “Big Play” Slay, the Eagles’ secondary is one of the best in the league and certainly better than the Chiefs. With that said, having those guys in the secondary will create just that extra second the pass rush will need in order to get to Mahomes and that extra second is the difference between the number 1 pass rush and the number 2.

I still believe it will be a high-scoring game, but unfortunately, when the fourth quarter begins, Chiefs fans will be having deja vu as they watch Patrick Mahomes running for his life just like in the 2021 Super Bowl. This time, he will be running with an injured ankle, and when it comes time for the stars to rise to the occasion, I predict the Eagles’ veteran pass rushers will be able to dig deep and pin their ears back. I think they will get to Patrick Mahomes with a little bit of help form their secondary. In turn, the Eagles will be flying to Disney World. Fly Eagles Fly.