Mike Preston: Eagles are built to upset the Chiefs in the Super Bowl

Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun on Jan 29, 2025

Published in Football

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BALTIMORE — The Philadelphia Eagles are the perfect team to halt the Kansas City Chiefs’ chances of winning three consecutive Super Bowls.

It’s hard to predict the outcome, but Philadelphia has enough physical talent on both sides of the ball to knock off Kansas City in Super Bowl 59, which will be played Feb. 9 in New Orleans.

The Eagles are old-school. They win with dominant offensive and defensive lines and both units can control the pace of the game, which might be enough to beat Kansas City.

The Chiefs’ Andy Reid is the best coach in the NFL, and there is a clear separation between him and his peers. Kansas City has also won 17 straight one-score games largely because they have Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback to ever play who will now appear in his fifth Super Bowl in the past six seasons.

If a team wants to beat Kansas City, a key is keeping Mahomes off the field — and the best way to do that is with a strong running game.

Enter Eagles running back Saquon Barkley.

He’s the best in the NFL, a threat from anywhere on the field after rushing for 2,005 yards on 345 carries during the regular season and 442 yards and five touchdowns on 66 carries in three playoff games. His jump cuts are unbelievable, but that’s only part of what makes Philadelphia’s running game special.

There are five other factors: Offensive tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, guards Landon Dickerson and Mekhi Becton and center Cam Jurgens. If Jurgens and Dickerson are healthy enough to play in the title game, the Eagles should be able to grind down Kansas City, much like they did against the Ravens in the second half of a 24-19 victory Dec. 1.

In the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory Sunday night in the AFC championship game, Buffalo running back James Cook rushed 13 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns and the Bills finished with 182 yards on 39 carries. They should have run Cook more but instead got carried away with those quarterback sneaks, which cost them the game.

Philadelphia, though, won’t be shy with Barkley. He has been the focal point of the offense all season. An added plus was that the Eagles had a passing game. It’s cynical these days to even suggest a team doesn’t have one, but Jalen Hurts completed 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. That in itself will give Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo more to think about, especially with cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie being so young and vulnerable.

On the flip side, the Eagles are really good defensively. Don’t underestimate this group. The Eagles have tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, end Milton Williams and outside linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. They don’t need to blitz a lot because they get so much pressure with their front group, especially Carter, who is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. The Chiefs will have to slide a lot of protections toward Carter, which should free up Williams. Davis and outside linebackers Josh Sweat and Smith have also played well this season.

Kansas City has done a good job of modifying its passing game. Against the Bills, they moved Mahomes in the pocket, especially rolling to his right, which the Bills never figured out. Kansas City likes to use a lot of crossing patterns, a staple of Reid’s offenses this season, but the Eagles can cover.

They have two of the best cornerbacks in the league in Darius Slay Jr. and rookie Quinyon Mitchell. Rookie nickel back Cooper DeJean is no slouch either. They match up well with Kansas City receivers Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster despite Mahomes’ quick release.

This could be another Super Bowl classic. In a league featuring great quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, all were just born at the wrong time. They’re in Mahomes’ era.

Reid will have two weeks to game plan for Philadelphia, which will be a disadvantage for his Eagles counterpart, Nick Sirianni. But the Eagles have their own arsenal. They will be at a disadvantage if Kansas City scores early and jumps out to a big lead because the Eagles don’t have that strong, come-from-behind offense and Spagnuolo likes dialing up pressures.

Philadelphia, though, has that mentality of yesteryear: If a team controls the line of scrimmage, it usually wins the game. The Eagles can do it on both sides of the ball, and they just physically beat up the opposition.

Maybe old school wins this Super Bowl.

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