By Mark Halpern
Tomorrow the top two seeds in the NFL, the Kanas City Chief, and the Philadelphia Eagles, will battle to prove who is the best team in the NFL. The Superbowl has seen many close matchups. We have seen game-winning last-second field goals or touchdowns and, of course, plenty of blowouts. What are we going to see tomorrow night? I wish I had that answer so I could take advantage, but here is my take.
In the AFC, we have the Kanas City Chiefs coached by one of the NFL’s top two active coaches, Andy Reid. Andy Reid has been to the dance before and knows that there is a ton of distractions during media week, and I am sure once that was all done, things got down to business. The Chiefs are led by Patrick Mahomes, who has a Superbowl win on his belt, so he knows the atmosphere as well as Travis Kelce. However, for many of the Chiefs players, this is their first time in the world’s biggest showcase, and it can be a lot to take in. With the likes of this Chiefs offense and its explosiveness, they will have to do most of the point scoring. The question is, what is the condition of star Quarterback Patrick Mahomes? He severely hurt his ankle in the Division playoff game and toughed it out; when the Chiefs got to the AFC Championship game, you could see he was still hampered by it, but he has now had two weeks to get treatment and healing time. So we will see which version of Mahomes is there. The Chief’s defense is their Achilles’ heel, as they tend to give up lots of yards through the air. Their run defense is good and has to be top-notch, as they have to control Jalen Hurts. My underdog player on the Chiefs is Kadarius Toney. Toney was traded from the Giants towards the second half of the season and has yet to make a substantial contribution, and the Eagles might underestimate him. The run game will have to produce and not make Mahomes throw 50 times in the game because the Eagle’s defense is that good, so Mahomes will have to be at his best against this defense because if the Eagles stop the Chiefs from running and have to pass all the time the Eagles will control the game. However, Mahomes can still throw the ball very well and has plenty of capable receivers, and Pacheko is a rookie but is a speedy running back and is valuable in the pass-and-run game.
Looking at the Eagles, they are nothing short of a fantastic team (this coming from a Die-hard Dallas fan), whether on Offense or Defense. The offense for the Eagles is just as explosive as the Chiefs. The big thing is that Hurts is basically like Lamar Jackson (except he can throw with better accuracy), so the Chiefs will have to control the line of scrimmage. If you control the running game, you must stop this three-headed monster of A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert. One question is, what is the status of Jalen Hurts shoulder? As far as the Eagles organization has released is that Hurts is good to go. Hurts went down with three games left when he severely sprained his throwing shoulder. He was kept out until the season’s final game, and even then, you could tell he was bothered by the shoulder then. However, that shoulder looked fine last week, so don’t worry about Hurts. I think A.J. Brown will have a vast game and could have a two-touchdown night. The Eagle’s defense is ranked at the top of the NFL for a reason. They are quick off the line and can get to the Quarterback quickly. The Eagle’s number one passing defense will be tested and tested often. This isn’t a team where you can double cover any wide receiver as someone will be open, and that is where Quez Watkins could be a factor. The Eagles come out with a balanced attack and will find holes in the Chief’s defense and exploit them.
Both teams deserve to be here in this spotlight game. I know a particular fan base that is pissed off at a HORRIBLE roughing the passer call in the AFC Championship, and another team in the NFC Championship thinks they were cheated. It may be the ref’s fault that the wrong teams are in the Superbowl because of bad calls or no calls, but what can I or any of us do about it? Absolutely nothing. There can be no change of the two teams that are in the Superbowl, and I am excited to see this game. I look at all the factors, and the Chiefs edge out the Eagles 38-31; and that is how the old man sees it.
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