The stage is set. On Sunday, February 12th at 6:30 PM at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona the top seeds from their respective conferences will face off. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will match up in this year’s highly anticipated edition of the big game.  

The Philadelphia Eagles come into the matchup with a combined regular and postseason record of 16-3. The Eagles feature the 3rd ranked offense in terms of points per game. They average 28.1 led by the newly discovered superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts and second-year head coach Nick Sirianni. On offense, Hurts has many weapons on his side such as first year Eagle wide receiver A.J. Brown, wide receiver Devonta Smith, and running back Miles Sanders, as well as Hurts’ legs. The dual threat QB will try to cement himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the league if he can lead his team to victory. On the other side of the ball, this Eagles team is scary. Each and every player on their defensive line is capable of getting through to the quarterback on any given play. Players like Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Josh Sweat, and Haason Reddick could have Patrick Mahomes running for his life (although he usually hold up well in those situations). It remains to see if the Chiefs offensive line will hold up. Additionally, the Eagles secondary is strong, with lockdown corners like Darius Slay and James Braderry, and also safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The Philadelphia defense is ranked 8th best in the league this year, holding opponents to 20.2 points per game on average. However, this will be a pretty tough final exam against the top ranked Kansas City offense. 

The Kansas City Chiefs, who will appear in their third Super Bowl of the last four, dominate on the offensive side of the ball, led by the spectacular Patrick Mahomes, and veteran head coach Andy Reid, who coached Philadelphia for 14 years before being fired after the 2012 season. He immediately took his talents to Kansas City, where he turned the Chiefs from a bottom dwelling AFC West franchise to a team that has had a winning record every season since he took over. This year, despite trading star receiver Tyreek Hill, to the Miami Dolphins, the Chiefs still are the number one offense, putting up 29.2 points per game. Mahomes loves throwing to his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce, who has already racked up 21 catches for 176 yards, along with 3 touchdowns in this year’s playoffs. Another weapon for the Chiefs is the 5’10” running back out of Rutgers, Isiah Pacheco, who was the Chiefs’ leader in rush yards, racking up 830 rushing yards over the season with 5 touchdowns. However, the Chiefs are not reliant on the running game, as they opt to go in the air 62% of plays. Receivers like Juju Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling were able to step up to fill in Hill’s absence. A huge factor in this game will be the status of Mahomes, who injured his ankle in the divisional round against the Jaguars. It seems like it won’t be too big of an issue, with Reid saying that Mahomes, “…can really do just about everything [he’s asked to do]. Ankle 100% or not, the Eagles’ defense will be a tough task, but when you are the #1 scoring offense like the Chiefs are, you can light up the scoreboard against any opponent, any time. For reference, the Chiefs scored 44 points against the #1 defense in the 49ers. If the Chiefs want to win, they will need to get in the endzone to make up for their mediocre defense. The Chiefs’ defense sits directly in the middle of the NFL with the #16th ranked defense, giving up 21.7 points per game. The Chiefs’ weakness is definitely their defense, but it isn’t terrible. They have a game wrecker on the defensive line in Chris Jones. He will need to get going, although the Eagles offensive line is one of the best in the league. The Chiefs also have solid players in cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed, linebacker Willie Gay, and safety Justin Reid. The Chiefs’ defense is not what will win them the game, but it could be what loses them the game. 

In most sports games, whether you are a player or fan, someone wins and someone loses. However, that is not the case for Donna and Ed Kelce, who will see both of their kids, Jason (Eagles center) and Travis (Chiefs tight end) on the field, playing crucial roles for their respective teams, in the biggest game in America, the Super Bowl. Donna even has a custom jersey with Travis’ Chiefs #87 jersey on the front, and Jason’s Eagles #62 jersey on the back. No matter what happens, Donna and Ed will win. Some have already referred to Super Bowl LVII as the “Kelce Bowl”. Donna said in an interview that all she wants is for, “everybody to be healthy…” She won’t pick any sides either, she explained that “…I’ll be rooting for both of them.” It’s a great time to be a Kelce. 

It is only a matter of time until we all will witness either Mahomes and the Chiefs continue to run their kingdom with their 3rd franchise Super Bowl win, or Hurts and the Eagles fly to their 2nd franchise Super Bowl win on Sunday night in Glendale. This is lining up to be a great game with many storylines. Now all we have to do is watch. 

Predictions from FOCUS writers: 

Colby Cotrone: Chiefs 32 – Eagles 27. This game will be exciting, back and forth, and fairly high scoring. The Chiefs’ offense will make up for their defense, and they will be able to get the win. With the Eagles facing weaker opponents in previous playoff matchups with the New York Giants, who overachieved, but realistically didn’t have the talent to be in a divisional playoff game, and the San Francisco 49ers, who began the game with their 3rd string quarterback, Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, then went to 4th string quarterback Josh Johnson after Purdy’s elbow injury, and even running back Christian McCaffery for a few plays after Johnson was placed in concussion protocol. It is fair to say that the Eagles haven’t had much competition this postseason, so when the Chiefs step out on the field, the Eagles won’t know what hit them. I predict that the Eagles will get off to a slow start, but will hang around the whole game. However, the Chiefs and newly crowned 2023 MVP Patrick Mahomes will be able to prevail in the end. 

George Caratzas: Eagles 38 – Chiefs 35. “The Eagles running game will dominate the Chiefs D-Line. Mahomes and Kelce will make it close for Kansas City, but the Eagles defensive front will cover up any running game the Chiefs try.” 

Aidan Christman: Chiefs 27 – Eagles 17. “The Chiefs are 5-4 against the Eagles all time, and have shown no signs of weakness on offense. The Eagles have played top level football, but with their inconsistencies, I would prefer the more proven Chiefs.” 

Ian Rhodes: Eagles 38 – Chiefs 24. “The Eagles are the superior franchise.”