Super Bowl LVII is the next and last game of this season. It’s a compelling contest between the two No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences and two of the MVP finalists – Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. Let’s take an early look at some matchups I have my eye on in this contest.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The line for the Super Bowl opened at Eagles -1 on DraftKings sports book. I expect that number to approach Eagles -3 early in the week based on some matchup advantages Philadelphia has.
First, Mahomes played a great game against the Bengals while making a few outstanding plays in pressure management. But he was clearly not 100%. He’ll get two weeks to rehab his injured ankle, but he’ll face an extremely deep Eagles front that led the league with 70 sacks. That’s the first matchup on my radar for this contest.
The second is the Eagles’ dynamic wide receiver duo of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith against Kansas City’s beatable secondary. Since the Eagles have a top-five offensive line that can mitigate the Chiefs’ pass rush, Hurts is in a plus matchup.
A concern that I have on the Eagles’ side is that right tackle Lane Johnson is now playing with a tear in his groin. He’s been playing hurt for weeks, so we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for his status in the Super Bowl.
An advantage for the Chiefs is that this is their third Super Bowl in four years. The vast majority of this team already knows what to expect, and Andy Reid has a wealth of experience in managing this situation.
On the Eagles’ side, players like Johnson, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham were around for their Super Bowl run in the 2017-2018 season. But this is the first time for a lot of their key pieces.
My favorite aspect of this contest is that Andy Reid faces the team that let him go on the biggest stage in sports. I’m not sure how much of an impact that will have on the outcome of this contest, but it’s an interesting wrinkle, nevertheless.
Ultimately, the Eagles have the more talented team, but do you want to bet against Reid and Mahomes in this spot? We’ll tackle that question from every angle over the next two weeks.
