In every conflict and every good story, there is a clear delineation between good and evil, and eventually the forces of good overcome the forces of evil through their virtuous ways. Super Bowl 59 has no delineation. There is no good. There is only evil.
The Kansas City Chiefs are on the precipice of history, looking for their third consecutive Super Bowl title, and etching their names in the annals of history, as the only team to ever three-peat. They played a great game against the Bills, and contrary to the narrative people might try to spin, I don’t think the refs played much of a role in the Chiefs’ victory as people would like to think. Sure, there were some 50-50 calls that went the Chiefs’ way, but nothing that one could definitively say was a bad call. As I mentioned in the last post, the Chiefs needed to limit the Bills’ rushing attack, and that is exactly what they did. James Cook rushed for only 85 yards, and Buffalo was constantly stuffed on 4th down QB sneaks they tried to run, which resulted in multiple missed opportunities to advance the ball, and score points. The Bills offense just never posed the same threat that Kansas did, though their defense did very well to keep them in the game until the end. Kansas also did extremely well on the defensive side, forcing 4 fumbles, and miraculously not recovering a single one. Mahomes was forced to scramble often, but he kept his composure, which had seemed shaky at times this season, and made smart decisions to keep the ball moving and the Chiefs in the game. Their performance against bodes well for the Chiefs, because limiting an offense like Buffalo’s is no easy feat, and the concerns about uncertainty on offense from earlier in the season have all been put to rest thanks to this massive win. Obviously, they come with a championship pedigree, and they’re coming across an Eagles team that they’ve faced before, but that one was nowhere near the threat this Philly team is.
The Eagles completely blew out the Commanders, and I expected this to a certain extent, but not the absolute domination I witnessed. The first time the Eagles had the ball, I completely expected Saquon Barkley to do as he has done so often this season, and take the ball straight to the end zone for a touchdown. And that’s exactly what he did. A godforsaken 60 yard touchdown on the very first Eagles possession of the game; the drive lasted 18 seconds. But hey, surely the Commanders would tighten up after that and would play a little stricter on Barkley in their second drive, right? Two minutes after Washington’s second drive, Barkley drove another TD in. 13-3, and the game looked like it was threatening to slip out of Washington’s hands real quick. And that’s exactly what happened, as the Eagles forced 3 fumbles and recovered all of them, while sacking Jayden Daniels thrice, and Jalen Hurts and Barkley ran in 3 TDs each to put the game well beyond reach. It was a fairytale for the Commanders in these playoffs, and they played admirably, but the task was too great for them, and they’ll look to be back here next year. For the Eagles, it’s a second Super Bowl in three years, and a revenge game against the Chiefs. I’ve been pretty hard on Jalen Hurts throughout the playoffs, and in my post right before the playoffs, I quite literally said “I don’t buy Hurts as a QB that can win you the Super Bowl.” I asked him to prove me wrong, and he’s one step away from doing exactly that. He had a phenomenal game, and very much proved to me that when he does what he needs to do, he is absolutely a great QB.
He’s still prone to holding the ball just a little long, and the Chiefs will want to make him scramble on a regular basis, so that he’s forced to throw out of rhythm. But that’s easier said than done when you’re talking about the Philly offensive line. Hurts was blitzed 14 times, but only needed to scramble once, which shows you the magnitude of strength you’re dealing with. That being said, they’ve had some uncertainties at center, and the Chiefs will want to take advantage of that weakness as much as possible. It’s also a matchup of great secondaries, with the Eagles’ defense deflecting 8 passes, Quinyon Mitchell being the standout. On the other side, the Chiefs’ linebackers will make a QB’s life a living hell by how often and quickly they blitz, a potentially nightmarish scenario for Hurts if his offensive line can’t protect him. On the offensive side of things, of course the Chiefs will try to stop Barkley from gashing through the defence for large runs, and their corners are more than capable of slowing down AJ Brown and Davonta Smith, but both receivers have shown their ability to make difficult catches.
Of course, there’s always the question about the refs, and how they’ll impact the game. For the league, it’s obvious that a Chiefs dynasty is profitable for them, but with some unrest growing amongst fans, an Eagles win could be interesting. Of course, then we’d have to deal with insufferable Eagles fans for a whole year, and though they’d have every right to brag, it’d be grating to the ears. And the narratives if the Chiefs lose? Mahomes is washed, he’ll never beat Brady, and the obvious yelling about Taylor Swift and how her evil empire has been defeated.
On the other hand, if the Chiefs pull it off, Mahomes could stake his claim as second-best at least, with multiple Chiefs players gaining a massive boost in their reputation, Travis Kelce included, though he may not need it. It establishes the Chiefs as a dynasty, and one could argue they already are, but they could even claim the title of greatest dynasty ever, with no team currently in the same stratosphere. We’d go another season without seeing the QB depth in the AFC be rewarded, and Mahomes could play spoiler to a lot of players missing out on rings. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
So make your choice between the evils; the big bad Chiefs being alone in the history books? Or the city that booed Santa getting happiness? As for me, I like the idea of the three-peat being a seemingly impossible feat to achieve, so I’m leaning more towards the direction of the Eagles. But as we’ve seen, time and time again, the Chiefs are, for all intents and purposes, inevitable.
Pick your poison, and lose any hope of survival.
Prediction: Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 Philadelphia Eagles