Only five years removed from their historic Super Bowl run in the 2017-2018 season, the Philadelphia Eagles are back, and they are scarier than they have ever been. 

Looking back at their 2018 victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, it’s hard to believe that that roster was able to do what they did.

With their young starting quarterback Carson Wentz out for the playoffs due to an injury, an aging Nick Foles stepped in to run the offense under center. Running back Jay Ajayi, who was acquired from Miami at the trade deadline, proved to be an important addition, along with tight end Zach Ertz and wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor. 

On the defensive side, safety Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Brandon Graham, and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox were key pieces in the Philadelphia defense that proved strong enough to push the Eagles to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Aside from Fletcher Cox, none of those players are a part of the Eagles today.

This is a brand-new Philadelphia Eagles, and unlike their last super bowl run, they are certainly not pinned as underdogs. 

Led by current MVP candidate Jalen Hurts, this Eagles offense is the most explosive that it has ever been. Hurts was a dual-threat quarterback this year, finishing top 10 in total passing yards, earning the fourth-highest passer rating in the league, and placing second in the league in rushing touchdowns. 

Hurts had a lot of help, with a strong receiver duo of A.J. Brown, who was acquired via trade with the Tennessee Titans this summer, and former Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, who the Eagles selected with the tenth overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Dubbed “Swole Batman” and “Skinny Batman” by teammate Darius Slay, both receivers had the best seasons of their young careers, with both finishing top 10 in receiving yards. “Swole Batman” A.J. Brown was especially dominant, finishing top five in touchdown receptions, and top 10 in receiving yards per game. 

Running back Miles Sanders also had the best year of his career, placing top 10 in total rushing yards, rushing yards per game, and total rushing touchdowns. As a unit, the Philadelphia Eagles offense finished top 10 in total yards of offense per game, passing yards per game, and rushing yards per game. 

That’s just the offensive side of the ball.

While the Eagles offense was dominant, their defense was even better. 

Led by pro-bowlers linebacker Haason Reddick and defensive back Darius Slay, this Eagles defense was one of the most feared across the league. The Eagles led the league in total sacks, allowed the second-least yards of offense to opponents, and forced the third-most turnovers in the league. Four different Eagles players finished amongst the top twenty in sacks, with Reddick finishing second overall, racking up sixteen total sacks. 

Defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson had an outstanding year as well, finishing tied for first in interceptions with six. The 2022-2023 Eagles were the definition of lockdown defense.

Above all, this Eagles team knows how to win. 

In his second year as an NFL head coach, Nick Sirianni helped lead the Eagles to a record of 14-3, with two of the three total losses coming with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew under center, with Jalen Hurts out with a shoulder injury. This means that Jalen Hurts has only lost one game all season. 

The Eagles locked up the best record in the NFC, securing the first overall seed in the playoffs, and a first-round bye. 

In the playoffs, the Eagles pounced on a weak New York Giants defense in the NFC Divisional Round, with a convincing 38-7 victory, giving Eagles fans flashbacks to the 2018 playoffs, where they destroyed the Minnesota Vikings with a score of 38-7. In the NFC Championship game, the Eagles poured on the gas offensively against a top-three defense in the league, beating the second-seeded San Francisco 49ers 31-7. 

Coming into Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles are the hottest team in the league, showing no signs of slowing down and approaching the most important game of their season. 

Carrying the energy that the team played within the previous two playoff games will be an important component for success against the Kansas City Chiefs, who possess one of the best offenses in the league. The Eagles defense will need to show up early, and applying loads of pressure on quarterback Patrick Mahomes will ultimately be important to limit the number of scoring opportunities for the Chiefs. Tight end Travis Kelce will prove to be the main offensive threat for the Chiefs, but the Eagles are no stranger to limiting teams to low amounts of passing yards, as they allowed the least amount of passing yards to opponents in the league this season. 

On the offensive front, Philadelphia will need to exploit holes in the Chiefs’ defense early. During the regular season, Kansas City ranked 18th in passing yards allowed per game, so you should expect the Eagles to develop their passing game early on, and establish A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith as long-ball threats in this game. Doing this will allow their forceful running back unit of Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell to rest, and set them up to have a monster second half after Kansas City gets torched by Eagles wide receivers.

In the end, I predict that the final score will be 31-27, with Philadelphia taking home their second Super Bowl victory in franchise history. 

After the Philadelphia Phillies heartbreaking loss in the World Series, and the Philadelphia Union falling short of taking home the MLS cup, the Philadelphia Eagles are here to finally give the city of Philadelphia a reason to celebrate and bring the Lombardi Trophy home.  

It’s time to once again grease the poles in Philadelphia. Fly Eagles Fly!

The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in their third Super Bowl in the last four years, due in large part to their high-flying offense. Throughout the regular season, the Chiefs averaged the most points per game with 29.2 along with a flurry of 424.7 total offensive yards per game. 

The Chiefs’ offense is able to move the ball efficiently thanks to MVP favorite Patrick Mahomes. 

The 27-year-old phenom posted 41 passing touchdowns alongside 5,250 yards throughout the regular season, each ranking first in the league. Mahomes has been a star for the Chiefs ever since he stepped on the field. 

In his first full season as a starter, Mahomes took home the MVP and the next year led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years. Since his rookie season, Mahomes has started and led Kansas City to host five straight AFC Championships at Arrowhead Stadium. 

At the start of this year’s season, many analysts and experts were doubtful of Kansas City’s Super Bowl chances. They had just dealt their speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill to Miami for five draft picks over the next two years.

Since Hill had been one of the top weapons for Mahomes, there was a consensus that Kansas City would struggle this season. 

While Kansas City lost Tyreek Hill, they still had their reliable tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce has been a consistent safety valve for the Chiefs for quite some time now and has been dominant even before Mahomes entered the NFL. This year was no different as Kelce touted 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns in the receiving category as a focal point for the passing attack.

Along with Kelce, the Chiefs’ front office made it one of their top priorities to find pass catchers to surround Mahomes over the offseason in the absence of Hill.

During the offseason, Kansas City acquired Juju Smith-Schuster, a wide receiver who had shown flashes of talent during his time in Pittsburgh. After an up-and-down career in the black and gold, Smith-Schuster found his footing in a big way in Kansas City, racking up 933 receiving yards. 

The Chiefs also made a move to add Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the roster from the Green Bay Packers. Valdez-Scantling is a deep ball wide receiver who is proven to kickstart a drive at any moment and pulled in 687 receiving yards.

In late October, the Chiefs made one more move for their pass catchers, this time midway through their season. 

They traded for Kadarius Toney from the New York Giants, a former first-round pick with loads of potential. Injury-plagued Toney during his time with the Giants but he was able to make an immediate splash in the Kansas City offense with his quick lateral movements. 

In the running game, Clyde Edwards-Helaire started off the season with the premier role, but as the season progressed, seventh-round rookie selection Isiah Pacheco worked his way into the starting job. Pacheco brought an intense energy to this offense and ran the ball with ferocity, wrapping up the regular season with 830 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

In tandem with Pacheco, Jerick McKinnon came on in the second half of the season and did a majority of his damage in the passing game. Finishing off the regular season, McKinnon ended with six straight games with a receiving touchdown and had 10 total touchdowns on the season from scrimmage.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Chiefs have a dominant pass rush that had previously been inconsistent with pressure. Chris Jones and Frank Clark headlined this attack with 15.5 and five sacks, respectively. Second-year linebacker Nick Bolton flashed his potential with 108 solo tackles, which stacked up as second overall in the NFL.

Along with pass catchers, Kansas City also made a concerted effort in the offseason to help out their secondary. 

With their first-round selection, they took Trent McDuffie, a 5-foot-11 cornerback from Washington. McDuffie struggled with injury early in the season but accumulated familiarity and proved to be an outstanding piece of the defense.

L’Jarius Sneed also had an outstanding season at cornerback. Sneed had 75 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, and three interceptions. He was able to do it all and proved to be a staple of the Kansas City secondary.

Thanks to Kansas City’s stellar play on both sides of the ball, they earned the top seed and a first-round bye heading into the playoffs.

In the Chiefs’ divisional game, they faced off against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City fed off the electric atmosphere and earned a 27-20 victory to advance to the AFC Championship. 

The win did come at a price as Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain and had to go through a lot of treatment in preparation for the next round of the playoffs. In Mahomes’ absence towards the end of the first half, experienced backup Chad Henne came in and orchestrated a 98-yard touchdown drive to keep the Kansas City offense going. In addition, Kelce showed out with 14 receptions, 98 yards, and two touchdowns, leading Kansas City advanced to host their fifth straight AFC Championship.

This year’s AFC Championship was set up very similarly to last year with the same teams and venue. The Cincinnati Bengals were traveling into Arrowhead coming off a gutsy road win against the Buffalo Bills. Despite a tender right ankle, Mahomes was able to battle through adversity and throw for 326 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

For the Super Bowl this year, Mahomes will need to distribute the ball well. Assuming that he won’t be 100% from a mobility standpoint, expect a lot of check downs to Pacheco and McKinnon out of the backfield. 

On the defensive end, the Chiefs will need their stars on the line to put pressure on the Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts, and contain his scrambling ability. In the secondary, this young core will have a lot to handle with DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, but they can manage if they’re able to fly to the ball and cover their assignments. 

In the Mahomes era, Kansas City has found itself consistently making deep playoff runs and most of them are not strangers to the big stage. Given that they’ve had two weeks to recover, I see Kansas City defeating the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 34-24 to take home Super Bowl LVII.

All season long, these two organizations have been thought to be the best, and it should be an excellent showdown to see who can come out on top.