The NFL season is coming to an end with Super Bowl LIX looking to send it off with a bang this Sunday. The two time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs are coming off a Super Bowl victory against the San Francisco 49ers. Standing in their way of a third consecutive Lombardi trophy is a familiar foe in the Philadelphia Eagles who quarterback Patrick Mahomes bested a few years prior in Super Bowl LVII.
A lot of credit should go to Chiefs general manager Brett Veach who has been able to find talent to surround Mahomes throughout all of his career. Veach brought in talent such as Kareem Hunt who rushed for 728 yards and seven rushing touchdowns and DeAndre Hopkins who caught 35 balls for first downs. He also drafted star rookie Xavier Worthy who is a dual threat weapon who put up 638 receiving yards, six receiving touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns.
In the event the Eagles are able to cover Worthy, Hopkins and Hunt, there is still the reliable option of Travis Kelce for Mahomes. Kelce has put up 15.1 yards per reception this playoffs and ranks as the all-time leader in receptions in the history of the playoffs.
The Chiefs defense has the familiar faces of Chris Jones and George Karlaftis causing disruption in the opposing teams backfield. Jones has oftentimes been overlooked in the postseason due to the lack of sack production, but Jones' value lies in his ability to pressure the quarterback leading the league with 53 quarterback hurries this season. Sporting elite talent at all three levels of the game, the Chiefs are as powerful as ever.
Coming off of a record setting 55-23 victory against the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game, the Eagles are playing their best football going into the big game. The success of the Eagles has come primarily from the legs of Saquon Barkley who is having one of the best rushing seasons in NFL history.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has showcased an amazing ability to retool the roster of the Eagles to keep them competitive and this year may have been his best yet. Bringing in Barkley has resulted in him putting up 442 rushing yards on 6.7 yards per carry and five rushing touchdowns in the postseason alone. The addition of Barkley has showcased not only his amazing ability but arguably one of the greatest offensive lines in NFL history. The Eagles had both tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata named to the all-pro team this season.
As for the defense, the Eagles ranked as the top passing defense this season only giving up 174.2 passing yards pers game which ranked best in the league. This was a drastic improvement from last year and is a result of Roseman's pursuit of the cornerback position in the NFL draft. Roseman drafted both cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in this year's draft, both of whom are nominated for defensive rookie of the year this season. The pass rush for the Eagles helps in this regard with a star studded unit of first team all-pro teammates Zack Baun and Jalen Carter attacking the quarterback and blocking rushing lanes.
In the event the Chiefs are lucky enough to contain Barkley and score on the Eagles defense, they still have to deal with the ability of quarterback Jalen Hurts who put up one of the greatest forgotten performances of the Super Bowl the last time these two teams met, throwing for 304 passing yards and four total touchdowns in the game. The first time the Eagles met the Chiefs they didn’t have the experience, this time around things are different.
This game is going to come down to who can control the time of possession. If the Chiefs are able to limit Barkley and Hurts on the ground there is a good chance that Mahomes can set up several methodical drives that take up seven to eight minutes of the game for touchdowns. There is also the fact that the Chiefs are undefeated this season in one score games which means if the game is close, which it should be, the Chiefs know better than any other organization how to get the job done. For these reasons the Chiefs will be able to complete the first ever three-peat in NFL history, winning the game 28-24.
Jasper Greuel is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the views expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Jasper about his column? email him at jg453620@ohio.edu.
