Well, it’s here. A rematch of Super Bowl LVII pits the Chiefs, looking to make history as the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era, against the Eagles, looking for revenge from two years ago, and to validate what has been the league’s best roster from top to bottom all season long.
And sure, we could get into the intricacies of Andy Reid’s offensive scheme, and Vic Fangio’s myriad coverages, feints and disguises, or the specific blocking schemes that Philadelphia’s dominant offensive line employs, but you can get that elsewhere, and better.
No, we’re going to talk about this game purely on vibes, give you very straightforward analysis of storylines you’ve already been thinking about, and come away with a winning pick. History made, or history denied? Let’s find out.
6:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia vs. Kansas City
New Orleans, LA
Line: KC -1
Eagles vibes:
So good that they border on worrisome. Everyone wants the Eagles to win this thing. Well, everyone outside of Kansas and Missouri, and wherever else stray Chiefs fans may live. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, Foursquare, LinkedIn, TikTok, uh…Discord? Twitch? Every social media platform is overrun by posts of “Go Birds.” And these posts aren’t just coming from lifelong Eagles fans, no sir. They’re coming from what we’d normally call “independents,” if this was a presidential election. Usually, Philadelphia teams elicit zero sympathy whatsoever, but this team has become a sentimental pick, mostly because it seems that no one wants to see Kansas City three-peat. The motivations are understandable, but it’s still unsettling to see so many people so unified in support of Philly. I’m also detecting an almost unhealthy amount of confidence from Eagles fans, which is something completely foreign to me, a born pessimist. Said fans understandably think that their team is a total wagon, a runaway beer truck that will destroy everything in its path, up to and including the two-time defending champs. Only the Detroit Lions had a better point differential this year than Philly’s plus-160. The Chiefs were just plus-59, and the Eagles largely dominated their opponents all season and postseason, while the Chiefs have had an unimaginable run of success in one-score games. I’ve personally spoken to Philly fans who wonder aloud if they’re wrong to assume that this game will be a rout. That just seems like tempting fate.
Chiefs vibes:
Michael Myers. Okay, so the big guy was a lot more stoic (unaddressed anger issues aside) than these Chiefs are, but the parallels are there otherwise. Every team throws the kitchen sink at Kansas City, and they all come up short. They got revenge on Buffalo for the only legitimate loss they had all season, with Steve Spagnuolo dialing up a truly hellacious blitz at just the right time. Patrick Mahomes and Reid are an unkillable combination; analyze them all you want, but the one-sentence conclusion tells all. They simply find a way to win, every single time. Their fans are doing a very weird “no one believes in us” thing, which is strange, because K.C. is favored by a point, and they’re also doing a much more understandable “no one likes us/everyone is sick of us” bit. That part is true; everyone is tired of Patrick Mahomes taking advantage of quarterback protection rules, of the perception that the Chiefs are the beneficiaries of every call, and most of all, of Kansas City’s dominance. No one likes rooting for the juggernaut, even though having one typically makes a sport more compelling. I disagree with the notion that this team is more enraging than the Patriots, circa 2001-2018, because by and large they’ve played a much more entertaining brand of football. Not this year, though. This team is winning with defense, and slow, steady offense. And if they do it one more time, no one will be able to take away their singular place in NFL history, no matter how much they might hate them.
Chiefs 23 Eagles 20
I LOVE THE CHIEFS!!!!!