Our Super Bowl LVII matchup is officially set, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will face off on Feb. 12 with NFL glory on the line. Both of these teams have separated themselves as the best in the league, and there are plenty of interesting subplots that come with this matchup.
This will be the first Super Bowl where two brothers will face each other, with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce. This is also the first Super Bowl matchup that features two Black starting quarterbacks. Andy Reid will become the fifth head coach to coach against his former team in the Super Bowl, which hasn’t happened since 2014.
What will this matchup come down to? Will the season end with more Patrick Mahomes heroics, or will the Eagles’ rushing attack rule the day? Below, we will break down five early bold predictions for Super Bowl LVII.
Mahomes sacked a postseason-high five times
The Eagles and Chiefs ranked 1-2 in sacks during the regular season, with Philly recording 70 quarterback takedowns, and Kansas City registering 55. This is the third Super Bowl matchup between the top two teams in sacks, and the first Super Bowl matchup between teams that recorded at least 55 sacks during the regular season. Our bold prediction is that Mahomes is sacked five times — which would be a career postseason high for him.
Mahomes has been sacked five times just once, back in 2018 against the Arizona Cardinals. In his first Super Bowl appearance against the San Francisco 49ers, Mahomes was sacked four times. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV — where he had a banged-up offensive line — Mahomes was sacked three times.
Teams have taken different approaches to defending Mahomes. Some have attempted to blitz him, while others sit back with two high safeties. Mahomes has had success against both. Either way, the Eagles were No. 1 in pass-rush grade this season, per PFF. Philadelphia will rely on its strengths in the biggest game of the year.
Travis Kelce throws a touchdown
The Chiefs star tight end was certainly on one after the AFC Championship Game victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. “Burrowhead, my ass!” Our prediction is that Kelce will throw a touchdown to Kadarius Toney in the red zone — a little “special” against Philly, if you will. Kelce is a versatile red zone threat that can both find the gaps in zone coverage or take a shovel pass…
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