Despite the Conference Championship round being plagued with questionable officiating, Super Bowl LVII will carry some historical stories into an interesting matchup.
Super Bowl LVII will feature the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona. Although both teams have electric offenses, the Eagles’ physical defense and the Chiefs’ bend-but-don’t-break defensive scheme create an anticipated matchup.
Here’s a season recap of the Super Bowl competitors.
The Eagles
The Eagles finished the regular season with a record of 14-3 and earned the number one seed in the NFC playoff bracket due to MVP hopeful Jalen Hurts. For the regular season, Hurts had a 66.5 completion percentage, 3,701 passing yards (10th in the NFL), 22 passing touchdowns (14th in the NFL), and only six interceptions (tied for fourth).
A lot of Hurts’ growth came from his newly acquired receiver A.J. Brown in the offseason. Hurts and Brown connected instantly on the field. Brown finished the regular season with 1,496 receiving yards (fourth in the NFL) and 11 TDs (tied for third).
Despite the young stars shining on offense, this team wouldn’t be where they are without their defense. The team hit a franchise record of 70 sacks in the regular season as linebacker Haason Reddick led the team with 16 sacks. The defense also had a lot of takeaways. They caused 15 fumbles and 17 interceptions. Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson led the team with six interceptions.
The Chiefs
After losing his number-one receiver in the offseason, all eyes were on star quarterback Patrick Mahomes this season. Mahomes willed his team through a stacked AFC by leading the NFL in both passing yards and touchdowns with 5,250 yards and 41 TDs respectively. The Chiefs ended the regular season with a record of 14-3, and 6-0 in their division while ending the season on a 10-game win streak.
While it may appear that it was a one-man show, veteran tight end Travis Kelce remained an explosive, reliable weapon for his QB. Kelce finished the season with 1,338 receiving yards (eighth in the NFL) and 12 TDs (second in the NFL).
The coaching staff has been another reason for the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl appearance in four years. The creativity of head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has helped Mahomes flourish and show off his skill set. Despite the defense being ranked 22nd in the league and a lack of defensive stars, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme helps the defense make crucial stops, racking up a total of 55 sacks and giving the ball back to the offense.
Fun facts heading into Super Bowl LVII
This year’s Super Bowl will be the first in NFL history to feature two starting African-American quarterbacks, which will take place during Black History Month.
The Super Bowl will also have the first brothers to face off against each other in the big game. Either Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce or his brother, Eagles center Jason, will bring a championship to the Kelce household.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will be coaching against his former team. Not only is Reid the winningest coach in Eagles history, but he will have the chance to become the winningest coach in Chiefs history if he beats the Eagles on Feb. 12.
Odds and predictions
According to BetMGM, the Eagles are a -1.5 point favorite over the Chiefs and the over/under of total sports scored is 49.5 points.
Another key factor that BetMGM pointed out is that the Chiefs are 8-0 if they get one interception but are 4-3 when the opposing team rushes more than 30 times in a game. For the Eagles, they are 11-1 when the opposing team throws for less than 200 yards but are 0-1 when they rush for four yards less than five times in a game.
ESPN’s statistics line up with BetMGM. When the opposing defense is at the 20-yard line, the Chiefs’ defense allows a touchdown 67.3% of the time while the Eagles’ offense makes its way to the red zone and scores 67.8% of the time.
The Chiefs are the only team with a bottom-six defense to advance through the playoffs.
While the Chiefs’ defense looks to be exposed heading into the Super Bowl, ESPN stats also show that the Eagles’ defense has some flaws as well. For seven straight games, the Eagles’ defense hasn’t caused multiple turnovers in a game.
ESPN’s Tim McManus believes that the only complete offense that the Eagles faced was the Cowboys in a Week 16 loss where QB Dak Prescott threw for 347 yards and had three touchdowns.
At the end of the day, it comes down to health and execution. The Chiefs currently have three starting receivers and two corners out due to injury in the conference championship round. Mahomes, who suffered an ankle sprain in the divisional round, will also get two weeks to treat his injury.
As for the Eagles’ defense, they are facing an offensive line that has a block-win rate of 74.7%, which is the best in the league. If the Chiefs aren’t healthy come kickoff and the Eagles swarm on defense, it’s hard not to see them coming out with the win.
But if the Chiefs enter the game with a healthy roster, it will be interesting to see how the Eagles will respond.
Either way, it’s going to be a fun matchup in Super Bowl LVII.