It’s that time of year again for the NFL Super Bowl to take the attention of the world of sports. All eyes are on the league and its two best teams for one Sunday in February. For the 2023 season, those teams are the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
The pair will battle for the NFL crown on Feb. 12 at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are the current favorite to host the championship trophy, but only by a slight margin of one point. On the moneyline, the Chiefs hold value at -125 to win outright.
The reason the Chiefs are favored can be boiled down to a few key areas. The first of which has to be the one-two punch of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
The duo brought their postseason record to an impressive 10-3 after a revenge win over the Bengals in the AFC Championship game. Mahomes and Kelce led this offense to a league-leading 28.2 points per game and an average of 6.4 yards per play during the regular season.
While the Chiefs’ defense isn’t on the same level of dominance, they do a fantastic job of pressuring opposing quarterbacks.
This could lead to problems for a mobile QB such as Jalen Hurts, who thrives when given time and space. The Chiefs’ 55 defensive sacks are second in the league behind their Super Bowl opponents, the Eagles.
It’s not all sunshine and roses in Kansas City, as the Chiefs are potentially dealing with some critical injuries.
Mahomes was hobbled a few weeks back and missed a series during the Chiefs’ win in the Divisional Round.
He returned to lead his team to a victory against the Jags and basically won the AFC Championship on one leg against the Bengals.
Furthermore, wideouts Mecole Hardman, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Kadarius Toney all left Sunday’s game with injuries. Defenders LB Willie Gay and CB L’Jarious Sneed were also forced out against the Bengals.
The group has an extra week to rest, but only time will tell if that is enough.
The Chiefs may have the best offense in the league, but the Eagles are probably a better roster from top to bottom. They may have the best overall roster in the league.
Philadelphia Eagles
Led by Hurts under center, the offense is loaded with playmakers at every skill position. Philly has two backs with over 130 yards in the playoffs and three recievers with over 50.
The depth on offense allows Hurts to share the load and spread the ball all over the field. This makes it hard for defenses to gameplan for Philly.
The Eagles just have to shut down Kelce, and they will probably win. But the Chiefs can’t focus on just one part of this offense other than Hurts and hope to succeed.
It’s the same story on defense, as the Eagles have allowed just 14 points so far in the postseason. Because of their stifling defense, the Eagles have an insane margin of victory of 69-14 against the Giants and 49ers.
There is some cause for concern as the Eagles slowed down a lot over the season’s final few weeks. And despite cruising through the Giants and 49ers, neither put up much of a fight.
It’s been a while since the Eagles faced an offense this good. The Cowboys are probably the most recent, and they scored 40 points against Philly on Christmas Eve.
No matter what happens on Super Bowl Sunday, this year’s title game has already made history as the first to feature brothers on opposite sides of the line.
Travis isn’t the only Kelce who will suit up, as his brother, Jason Kelce, is Philly’s center.
Jason may not get the highlights that his brother does, but he is a 5x first-team all-pro center with six Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl ring from 2017.
The pair may never be on the field at the same time, but the Kelce brothers will still be one of the biggest stories of this season’s Super Bowl.
The Eagles may be short underdogs of just one point, but many prognosticators have them pegged as the team to beat on Sunday.
The Eagles have a more talented defense and appear healthy in the week leading up to the big game.
However, the Chiefs were in worse shape last week and beat a talented Bengals team to win the conference title.
As the odds suggest
this game will be tight down to the wire. Take the points on the underdog in a toss-up game like this and hope the bookmakers are right. With that in mind, we are leaning towards the Eagles winning with a better roster and better odds.