kansas city chiefs 38 vs philadelphia eagles 35

Call it the Andy Reid bowl, the Kelce bowl, or whatever you want. The Eagles and Chiefs, the number 1 seeds from both conferences, face off in Super Bowl LVII.

The narrative surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles right now is that they had the easiest road to the Super Bowl in NFL history, or at least in the last 20 years. In the divisional round, they crushed the Giants who entered the playoffs with a 9-7-1 record. Then in the NFC championship, they beat a 49ers team with (for all intents and purposes) no quarterback. On top of that, they had one of the easiest regular season schedules, only facing two teams outside the division that made the playoffs (Vikings and Jaguars).

The Eagles and their fans aren’t thinking this way. Jalen Hurts has only lost one game this season in a fluke to the Commanders, and he was neck and neck with Patrick Mahomes in the MVP race before injuring his shoulder and missing two games. The Eagles ranked 3rd in offense this season, 8th in defense, and might have the most complete top to bottom roster in the league.

The Chiefs feel like they’re where they’re supposed to be. Patrick Mahomes has been their starter for 5 years, and for 5 years they’ve made it minimally to the AFC championship. This will be his third Super Bowl appearance.

Everyone questioned what the Chiefs would look like this year with the departure of Tyreek Hill, but not only did it not matter, Mahomes actually had the second best statistical season of his career, leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns. After Travis Kelce, the Chiefs employed a “receiver by committee” approach to get the job done. Just like Mahomes told us to start the season, it was going to be a different guy every game. The Chiefs had the number 1 offense by both points and yards, but will their average defense be enough to stop Jalen Hurts?