You can never quite pay attention to the Super Bowl game as much as you may want to. The kids are screaming, you are grabbing and stuffing your mouth with various different things to eat or drink. Some guy you haven’t seen in seven years talking your ear off and Aunt Jetsy asking you to pour her another glass of wine. There are plenty of distractions, but that’s what the Super Bowl is.
So while we deal with all the distractions and do our best to concentrate on the game, why not place some bets and see if we can make some money when the game is over? Nothing crazy, but besides the straight bets, you got the surplus of prop bets and Super Bowl boxes, so spread the money around and have some fun watching the game and hanging out with friends and family. Hopefully, you don’t have to work the next day.
We finished the regular season hitting 60% of our picks. While the playoffs haven’t been as kind, but regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, we had a very successful year. Let’s see if we can nail this Super Bowl 57 winner and end this season right.
Super Bowl LVII Breakdown
Philadelphia Eagles versus Kansas City Chiefs
I ended up picking against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, but as the game drew closer I was starting to get the feeling that the Chiefs were going to win. That’s exactly what the Chiefs did. Preventing Joe Burrow from beating them four times in a row and erasing the whole silly notion of “Burrowhead”.
Kansas City Chiefs
Obviously, the Chiefs’ offense was impressive as they usually are, but the defense played well and they have been very good down the stretch. Their defense was the biggest reason I questioned the Chiefs going into the playoffs. However, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has them playing their best football at the most important time.
Their rookie cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, and Joshua Williams have come alive and aren’t playing like rookies any longer. Along with veteran L’Jarius Sneed, these Kansas City corners bring a lot of size and athleticism that can disrupt A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. McDuffie is 5’11, Sneed is 6’1, Watson is 6’2, and Williams is 6’3. Then you add in a solid defensive line led by Chris Jones who was third in sacks behind Haasan Reddick and Nick Bosa.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are probably the most complete football team in the NFL. Their defense led the league in sacks with 70 total. Their offensive line is stacked and is the best in the league. On top of that, they have an extremely talented secondary led by Darius Slay, James Bradberry, Avante Maddox, and C.J. Gardner Johnson.
Jalen Hurts finished 2nd in the MVP voting behind Patrick Mahomes and they have a great running game with Hurts, Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and Kenneth Gainwell all contributing to their attack. Brown, Smith, and tight end Dallas Goedert are a ridiculous receiving combination.
Keys to a Chiefs Victory
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are certainly a ridiculous combo. If they win this game this could end up being one of the best combinations of all time, it may already be, but it probably is. The point is, this Chiefs offense is great led by Mahomes, and designed by the wizard coach that is Andy Reid who will be coaching in his fourth Super Bowl, trying to win his second ring, now against his former team.
Whether Mahomes is throwing to Kelce, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdez Scantling, Justin Watson, or the running backs, Jerick Mckinnon and Isaiah Pacheco, he’s going to find a way to put points on the board as he has done throughout his career and this season.
Additionally, the Chiefs also boast a top-five offensive line. This is in big contrast to when they lost the Super Bowl two years ago to Tampa Bay when Mahomes’ line was facing another tough pass rush but instead, his offensive line was severely depleted and something he couldn’t overcome.
The Passing Attacks
The Eagles are likely going to try and impose their will on offense by running behind that stout offensive line while taking some shots downfield and mixing in quick slants to Brown, screens to Smith, and passes in the middle of the field to Goedert. Goedert could realistically end up leading the team in receiving in this one. Hurts missed some big throws against the 49ers that we saw him make during the year and that makes me question the health of that shoulder. He’s had two more weeks to rest it, but I still have some concerns.
Mahomes is still dealing with the ankle injury but he’s had two more weeks and as we saw against the Bengals, it wasn’t a huge concern. I think the Chiefs will also try to run the ball with Pacheco and Mckinnon attacking the biggest weakness of the Philadelphia defense. They will also target them a lot in the passing game to negate that Philadelphia pass rush. One of the keys for the Chiefs will be for Smith-Schuster to step up in this game. I don’t see Valdes-Scantling repeating the performance that he had against the Bengals. Finally, I could see Watson or Toney making some big plays. Kelce will do what he always does.
Predictions
The Chiefs are a championship team and have the MVP in Mahomes. Reid is one of the best coaches in the league if not the best at this point and has an amazing 27-4 record after a week off. However, the real reason I am picking the Chiefs is because of their defense. If they weren’t playing the way they have been down the stretch I probably would be picking the eagles, despite Mahomes and Reid. Furthermore, the Chiefs were second in sacks behind just Philadelphia and I love the way their young rookie corners have emerged. All that being said, I think they can definitely find a way to slow this Eagles passing game down and turn Hurts over at least once.
Philadelphia could very well impose its will in the run game, but I think the Chiefs will do enough to overcome the Eagles’ running attack. Reid will be ready for the Eagles pass rush and like I mentioned I think the Chiefs’ running attack will be a fairly significant part of the game plan and they will be successful at it. Give me the Kansas City Chiefs to win the game and for Reid and Mahomes to continue their legacies by securing their second Super Bowl title.
The Pick: KC Moneyline +105
Thanks for reading all season, Enjoy the big game! See you in September. You can follow me on Twitter @FantasySavvy.
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