An in-depth preview of Super Bowl LVII: Breaking down the X's and O's between Chiefs and Eagles
We have arrived at Super Bowl LVII and as dominant as other teams may have been for stretches, I think we ended up with the two best teams facing off. Not only in terms of what they did all season long, but also the versions we got from them leading into this matchup.
With both sides entering the tournament atop their conference, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to overcome a high-ankle strain to Patrick Mahomes. They got revenge on the team that kept them from going to the big game last year.
The Philadelphia Eagles were dominant in their two wins, with a point-margin of +55 in their two playoff matchups (with some help in the latter one, where the San Francisco 49ers ended up with basically no quarterback left).
You could also call this the “Storyline Bowl” because of all the different angles to this matchup off the field. For starters, you have Chiefs head coach Andy Reid facing his former team (which he could never quite get all the way over the hump with), along with DC Steve Spagnuolo, who spent his first eight years in the NFL with that organization as a defensive assistant.
Meanwhile, the head-man on the other side in Nick Sirianni started his NFL career as a quality control coach in Kansas City, a couple of years before Reid arrived. We’ll see the first Super Bowl between brothers, with Travis and Jason Kelce on either side. Both already have a ring, but were still each the best players in their respective positions this season.
Depending on the results of NFL Honors, we may have the guys finish first and second in MVP at quarterback with Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts (who might still both be dealing with injury, but have done a great job playing through those). And even for more of the football nerds – we’ve got KC and Philly with the number one offense vs. defense respectively in yards per play.
I wanted to dive into the tape and numbers to give you a comprehensive insight into who both these teams are. How they match up on both sides of the ball, some players who could be X-factors and finally I give you my prediction on what I think will happen.
Let’s get into it: