Super Bowl 57 Prediction

Super Bowl 57 is finally here! After a rigorous 17-game regular season, and two playoff games, the Kansas City Chiefs (16-3) and the Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) meet in Glendale, Arizona to determine this year's recipient of the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Chiefs are making their fifth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and their third in the last four seasons. Led by this year's MVP in quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City finished with the number one seed in the AFC. From there, they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20 in the AFC divisional round before knocking off the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC Championship Game.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are making their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, and their second in the last six seasons. Led by this year's MVP runner-up in quarterback Jalen Hurts and a ferocious pass rush, the Eagles finished with the number one seed in the NFC before eliminating the New York Giants 38-7 in the NFC divisional round and the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship Game.

This year's Super Bowl is not lacking in intriguing storylines. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was the Eagles coach from 1999-2012, leading Philly to four straight NFC Championship Game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance in 2004. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was on the Chiefs coaching staff from 2009-2013. And of course, this Super Bowl can also be dubbed as the "Kelce Bowl" as Travis and Jason (who are both future Hall of Famers) become the first brothers to play against each other in the Super Bowl.

Before I get to who I have winning this game, let's take a look at 3 very important matchups that I think will decide the winner of Super Bowl LVII:

1. Patrick Mahomes/Chiefs offensive line vs Eagles pass rush

After getting walloped by the Buccaneers front seven in Super Bowl 55, the Chiefs completely revamped their offensive line during the 2021 offseason. Fast forward to today, and the Chiefs now have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. Led by All-Pro guard Joe Thuney and All-Pro center Creed Humphrey, the Chiefs five man front finished 1st in pass block win rate and tied for 3rd in run block win rate.

However, that offensive line will undoubtedly face their toughest challenge of the season, as the Eagles pass rushing unit has had a historic season. Their 78 sacks is the third most ever in a single season. Led by Haason Reddick (19.5 sacks), Josh Sweat (12.5 sacks), Javon Hargrave (12 sacks), and Brandon Graham (12 sacks), the Eagles repeatedly come after the quarterback in waves. I also can't forget to mention Fletcher Cox (8 sacks), Milton Williams (4 sacks), Linval Joseph, and Ndamukong Suh. Their second unit of pass rushers is just as good if not better than other teams' first stringers. No team has been able to stifle this Philly pass rush all season. But if there's one offensive line that can slow them down, it's Kansas City's.

2. Chiefs defensive backs vs A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith

The Chiefs revamped their secondary during the offseason, letting veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu and cornerback Charvarius Ward walk in free agency. Mathieu was a three-time All-Pro and team captain during his time in Kansas City and Ward was the team's number one corner for the last few seasons. Both played integral parts in the Chiefs' Super Bowl 54 victory.

General manager Brett Veach went out and replaced them by signing free agent safety Justin Reid to a three-year, $31 million contract to fill Mathieu's vacant safety spot. Then, in the draft, the Chiefs selected cornerbacks Trent McDuffie (1st round), Joshua Williams (4th round) and Jaylen Watson (7th round). Reid has been rock solid in the back end all season long and the three rookies (especially McDuffie) have played well for the majority of the season (Watson got a huge interception off of Joe Burrow in the AFC Championship Game). However, with all of them being rookies, they have experienced their fair share of issues, particularly when defending top tier wide receivers.

The Eagles feature one of (if not the best) wide receiver duos in the NFL with A.J. Brown (88 catches, 1,496 yards) and DeVonta Smith (95 catches, 1,196 yards). Smith had a solid performance against the Giants in the divisional round (6 catches, 61 yards, one TD). But Brown (3 catches, 22 yards vs the Giants and 4 catches, 28 yards vs the 49ers) hasn't had a huge game yet in these playoffs. But he's undoubtedly one of the best wideouts in the league and I wouldn't be surprised if he (and Smith) go off on Sunday.

3. Chiefs run defence vs Eagles rushing offence

The Chiefs defence has been solid against the run all year long (anchored by All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones), finishing 8th in rushing yards allowed per game during the regular season. 

However, that run defence will be tested as they go up against an Eagles rushing attack that finished 5th in total rushing yards and 5th in rushing yards per game. Led by Miles Sanders (1,401 rushing yards, 13 TDs, incl. playoffs), Jalen Hurts (833 rushing yards, 15 TDs, incl. playoffs), Kenneth Gainwell (400 rushing yards, 5 TDs, incl. playoffs) and Boston Scott (270 rushing yards, 5 TDs, incl. playoffs), the Eagles regularly gash their opponents in the running game, allowing them to milk the clock and keep the opposing offence off the field. If the Chiefs can't stop the run on Sunday, it's gonna be a very long evening for Chiefs Kingdom.

Prediction:

With both teams featuring MVP quarterbacks and top-scoring offences (Chiefs finished 1st in total points scored with 496, Eagles finished 2nd with 477), this is shaping up to be one of the highest scoring Super Bowl games of all time (for reference, the highest scoring Super Bowl ever was Super Bowl 29 in 1995 where the 49ers and Chargers combined for 75 points in a game that ended with a 49ers blowout victory). 

Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are the best quarterback-head coach duo in the NFL right now, and it's not particularly close. Mahomes' all-time theatrics and talent combined with Reid's wizardly offensive scheme and game-planning create all sorts of mismatches for NFL defences. And I'm sure they will put up points in this game too.

But at the same time, I can see a scenario where the Eagles defence gets a couple of sacks, and maybe a turnover off of Mahomes. I don't know if I can say the same for the Chiefs, who not only have to contend with the Eagles' aforementioned elite wide receivers, but also their complex and diverse RPO (run-pass-option) scheme. 

Philly has proven that they can beat you in so many ways this season. They can outscore you in a shootout, beat you through the air, gash you with the running game, or win through sheer dominance at the line of scrimmage with their defensive line.

On the biggest stage, the Eagles will rise to the occassion (no pun intended) and showcase all of these elements as Jalen Hurts puts on a absolute show with (400!) total yards of offence to give Philly their 2nd Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

Chiefs 30 Eagles 34

Super Bowl LVII MVP: Jalen Hurts, quarterback