Super Bowl 59 Prediction: Eagles vs Chiefs Game Preview
Super Bowl 59: Eagles vs Chiefs
The Chiefs quest for the first ever three-peat kicks-off at 6:35 ET on Sunday evening. When looking at the game from a higher level, you can tell a pretty clear story. One team has the better roster, and is the best roster top to bottom in all of football. The other time has arguably the best Quarterback of all time who never folds under pressure – and championship winning coaching staff that has won this game three times in total. Kansas City has won close games time and time again this season. They know that they can limit mistakes, they make it a close game and they rely on Patrick Mahomes to go out and get the job done. Vegas is expecting another close one, with the Chiefs listed as 1.5 point favorites and the total resting at 48.5.
Philadelphia has played an extremely tough schedule, and still grades out as the best defense in the NFL which is extremely impressive. They are the best in the NFL at forcing fumbles – and they’ve won the turnover battle 10-0 throughout their three play-off games this season. That will be a big point of emphasis in this game, given that KC is very good at taking care of the ball.
The big weak point for KC on defense in my opinion is their run defense, especially against good rushing teams. Buffalo may have won the game last week had they run more, and I don’t think Philadelphia will make the same mistake. With two weeks to prepare, it’s certain that Steve Spagnuolo will have something drawn up to try and contain Saquon Barkley but the Eagles may be able to win in that aspect of the game regardless.
Kansas City hasn’t used DeAnde Hopkins much, and I don’t really expect that to change here. They seem comfortable scheming their offense around their best playmaker, Xavier Worthy, and Travis Kelce should fare better here with two weeks of rest. He looked amazing against the Texans after two weeks off and I’m applying the same principle to this contest.
When it comes down to it, Philadelphia wins out nearly every aspect of the game. They win on both sides in the trenches, and they have the best defense in the league. That being said, that doesn’t always matter when you have the best QB of all-time on your side of the field and you get the ball late in a close game. I’ve gone back and forth on this all week, it’s tough for me to go against someone that I always bet on in these spots but I’m taking the Eagles to win and Jalen Hurts to cement himself as the winner he’s been his whole life.
Score Prediction: Eagles 24, Chiefs 17
Touchdown Prediction: DeVonta Smith
Smith is being extremely undervalued based on lack of performance in the last few play-off games – which isn’t fair in my opinion. The score vs the Rams doesn’t tell the full story and it was in snowstorm conditions while the Eagles dominated the Commanders and Hurts just missed him for a touchdown in that game. Smith has big game pedigree, and I could see him showing out on the biggest stage on Sunday. He went for 100 yards in the last meeting between these two teams in the Super Bowl and was tackled inside the two yard line just shy of a TD. As noted above, KC plays heavy man-coverage which is good for Smith and we could see more quick looks come his way to counteract Spagnuolo’s exotic blitzes. KC has been beatable in the slot, primarily where he operates and he feels extremely due for a big game. AJ Brown is a big body WR but Smith has actually out-targeted him both inside the 20 and 10 this season.