SPORTS/AMERICAN FOOTBALL/OPINION
Super Bowl Preview and Predictions
A look at the Big Game on Sunday
I’m going to get out what we’re all thinking. The Chiefs are likely going to be the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl Era. Remember that the Packers won three in a row twice before the Super Bowl was a thing but that doesn’t count in the grand scheme of things.
I’m going to take a look at each team position by position and make my predictions based on that. I’m going to look at the quarterback, the running back, receivers, tight ends, offensive line/defensive line, linebackers, secondary, coaching and special teams. Most of my analysis will be based on this season’s performances, mostly from the regular season, not taking into account any historical significance with past titles (sorry, Patrick Mahomes, you don’t get an automatic advantage here).
This Super Bowl (LIX) 59 will also make history. It will be the first Super Bowl when a sitting president will be in attendance. I know that he probably has more important things to attend to than this but here we are.
Featured in the halftime show will be Kendrick Lamar. I’m excited to see another rap/hip-hop artist at halftime. I found the one with Dr Dre, Snoop, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J Blige, and him to be fully entertaining and one of my favorite shows in recent history.
Enough talk about the entertainment, let me get straight into the analysis and the final prediction including a score for the game. In each instance, I will list the Chiefs player first. At the end of each one, I will note which team I’m giving the advantage. This will show, statistically, which team should win. I’ll end up picking my gut instinct regardless of which team shows an advantage at the very end. Here we go.
Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes — 2024 Stats (3,928 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions)
Jalen Hurts — 2024 Stats (2,903 yards, 18 touchdowns, 5 interceptions)
Initially, you’d see these two quarterbacks and you’d think it’s a no-brainer here. But then you have to remember that Jalen Hurts is also a mobile quarterback and rushed for an additional 630 yards and 14 touchdowns. If you’re wondering, Mahomes only rushed for two touchdowns this season. Despite Mahomes’ better counting numbers, I think this is a lot closer than it seems. I’m going to give a slight edge to Hurts. Mahomes would get a slighter advantage based on experience. Advantage — Eagles (slight)
Running Back: Kareem Hunt — 2024 Stats (728 yards, 7 touchdowns, 176 receiving yards)
Saquon Barkley — 2024 Stats (2,005 yards, 13 touchdowns, 278 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns)
Is this comparison even fair? You can clearly see that the Eagles have a major advantage in the running game. Saquon Barkley is a generational talent and will be hard for the Chiefs to stop. This advantage is very easily going to the Eagles. Even with Pacheco backing up Hunt, this is still pretty obvious. Advantage — Eagles
Best Wide Receiver: Xavier Worthy — 2024 Stats (59 catches, 638 yards, 6 touchdowns, 20 rushes, 104 yards, 3 touchdowns)
AJ Brown — 2024 Stats (67 catches, 1,079 yards, 7 touchdowns)
Again, the Eagles have the advantage here with their dynamic wide receivers, AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. The Chiefs have a dynamic dual-threat in Worthy but not much more help outside of him at the wide receiver position. Advantage — Eagles
Tight End: Travis Kelce — 2024 Stats (97 catches, 823 yards, 3 touchdowns)
Dallas Goedert — 2024 Stats (42 catches, 496 yards, 2 touchdowns)
Even with Kelce’s down year, that is still a solid season for a tight end. They are both solid blocking tight ends so there is no other consideration we have to look at. Travis Kelce is the much better tight end of the two and he led the Chiefs in receiving yards, to boot. The Chiefs have a major advantage here. Advantage — Chiefs
Offensive/Defensive Line: The Chiefs were sacked 2.4 times per game versus the Eagles at 2.8 times per game. The Eagles were sacked at a much higher rate though, considering that the Eagles ran the ball more often. The Chiefs got to the quarterback 39 times and the Eagles got 41 sacks. Considering that the Eagles got sacked more and only have a slight advantage in sacks, I’m giving the Chiefs a slight advantage here. Advantage — Chiefs (slight)
Secondary/Defensive Stats: The Eagles were the #1 team in the league for yards-allowed defense. The Chiefs were #9. The Chiefs have a slight advantage in yards rushing allowed but it’s very negligible. Plus, they’re about to face the top running back of this regular season. The defenses had 13 interceptions each on the season but the Eagles forced more fumbles. It’s easy to see what got the Eagles here. The defense/secondary is clearly in their favor. Advantage — Eagles
Special Teams: Technically, it’s a no-brainer in favor of Jake Elliott of the Eagles. Harrison Butker missed four games this season with an injury. Even on a per-game basis, Elliott was still the better scoring kicker. Purely statistically, I’m going with Elliott here even though he missed eight field goals this season, granted six of those were outside of 50 yards, which might be a factor in the Super Bowl. Advantage — Eagles (slight)
Coaching: Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in NFL history. He’s leading the Chiefs to yet another Super Bowl, and looking to become the first team in history to win three in a row. Sirianni is looking to get his first Super Bowl and this will be a rematch of the Super Bowl from two years ago. It is no contest which coach has the advantage. Advantage — Chiefs
If you look at how many advantages the Eagles have here, it would be the diligent thing to say that the Eagles will get the better of the Chiefs in this rematch. After all, the Eagles are arguably better than the Bills, who were the only team to beat the Chiefs in the regular season. But this is the postseason. So here’s what I’m going to say. My pick and the pick we’re all thinking is the Chiefs winning their historic bid. The statistics do say that the Eagles will win the rematch but games are played on the field and not on paper. So, sure, this might be a cop-out. But I’m going with who I’m going. The Chiefs are going to three-peat.
The final score is going to be 27–24 Chiefs. And, yes, another Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce celebration at the game.
