Super Bowl Lix Eagles vs. Chiefs Roundtable: Expert Selection, Bold Predictions from Rotoworld -Personal Personal

With the Super Bowl Lix just over 24 hours away, the Rotoworld crew gathered around to touch what they think it will take for each team to win what a third straight Super Bowl title would mean to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, and how they think things will eventually unfold to come on Sunday.

Chiefs win on Sunday if …

Denny Carter: I think KC will Kante Eagles if their prisoners in short Area-Obviously Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce can be productive after the catch. It is a high task against a Philly defense that enabled the fourth lowest adjusted yards per year. Attempting passports between 0-10 meters this season. Chiefs do not get anything down adfield; They will have to be ultra -efficient in the short areas.

Kyle Dvorchak: Kansas City wins by taking an early lead and holding the foot of the gas. Eagles are able to make a comeback, but that’s not what they are built for.

Lawrence Jackson Jr .: If they continue to wipe out their opponents and win the situational football matches they always do. Nor can they allow Eagles’ defense to get pressure with four pass rushers, while the defensive backs are successful with coverage that both are capable of. Chiefs have to choose their venom in defense and keep the Eagles Off-Balanced by offense.

Patrick Dougherty: We get a normal football game. Normality is Chiefs’ friend. Normality means limited turnover and sacks. Normality means abrasive drives that end with points. It doesn’t really matter if it’s field dimensions or touchdowns. This iteration of Chiefs has won more normal football matches than any team in the NFL story. Eagles need variance.

Zachary Krueger: They stick to the plan. It’s hard to imagine that one of the best quarterbacks in the game is also one of the league’s more conservative passers -by, but Mahomes and Chiefs know what got them here. Over the past three seasons, Chiefs have been at the bottom 10 in both adot and deep casting speed, but has been in the top 10 in EPA per day. Dropback and YPA during this span. How does this happen? Good downfield blockage and perfect execution. The Eagles’ Young Pass defense has been surprisingly strong this season and has allowed the third lowest yards after catching per year. Reception (YAC/REC) on passport of 5.0 air yards or less. Chiefs’ violation, on the other hand, has the 10th highest YAC/REC on these passports. This is a strength-on-strength match that Chiefs will have to win if they hope for three peats on Sunday.

Eagles win on Sunday if …

Carter: The Eagles have a big shot of turning off chiefs if AJ Brown continues to dominate against human coverage, which he has in the last two seasons. Chiefs, I think, will sell out to stop Saquon Barkley and see if Jalen Hurts is up to the task. Hurts could (should) target brown strongly in such a scenario, and Brown – topped the league at yards per day. Route against men’s cover schemes in 2024 – could make Kansas City pay.

Dvorchak: Eagles have to defend the short area perfectly. They have done it all year round, but no one performs these throws better than mahomes and chiefs. If Philly can close KC’s fast -passing game, they can neutralize mahomes.

Jackson: If they are not fooled out of leaving who they came to prom with and it is mostly Saquon Barkley. I’m not one of these ignorant people who think Jalen Hurts is unable to throw the ball at a high level, but Barkley was the best player in the NFL this season behind Lamar Jackson. Don’t get scared away from the running. In the passing game, I expect Eagles to take what the defense gives them. For Eagles in Defense you have to find a way to get Mahomes away from his brand; It is a simple answer, but not a simple task.

Dougherty: If Chiefs’ Run defense falls apart. Kansas City has been uneven on the ground, but very adaptable. If it ends on Sunday, they don’t actually have the horses, they will have to commit to many extra resources ahead, and then AJ Brown and Devonta Smith can start the soul of responding to the field. Steve Spagnuolo has had an answer to almost everything, but it would be difficult to come up with a solution to it.

Krueger: Saquon Barkley does “Saquon Barkley” things. Jalen Hurts is unfairly criticized as a passerby, but look no further than the man who rushed in 2,005 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as the primary reason why Eagles are where they are. Having an elite run-blocking device and a top-five defense also helps. Eagles are unlikely to win the coaching match, but Barkley can make life easier for Nick Sirianni and the offense by keeping the offense according to plan and breaking one or two of his signature in the long term. This would force chiefs into a more aggressive style of play that could play in Philly’s hand.

What would a third equal super bowl (fourth overall) mean for the legacy of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid?

Carter: Because Mahomes lost against Tom Brady in the Super Bowl, he can never really be the biggest quarterback of the time in public imagination. Mahomes’ Super Bowl loss to Tampa – which was not to blame for his own – sealed the deal. But I think Mahomes can establish himself as the clear # 2 of all time with a win here or in any of the handfuls of other Super Bowl appearances he will do over the rest of his career.

Dvorchak: For the enlightened among us, Mahomes is already the goat. A fourth Super Bowl serves only to close the gap between him and Tom Brady for the non-believers.

Jackson: That would mean they are in the NFL immortality because no team has done so. It’s hard to make the playoffs every season and these guys have turned the Super Bowl into Kansas City Chiefs Invitational. Both Reid and Mahomes would significantly close the gap essentially to be the goat in their respective lanes.

Dougherty: There is a desperate desire among certain people to equate this Chiefs group with Patriots’ multi-year dynasty. Not even a third straight Super Bowl would match it yet. What it would do is give chiefs something that no other franchise has – three just Lombardis – while holding them on a methodical track to eventually catch or even surpass Brady/Belichick Pats.

Krueger: That would be the one thing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick didn’t achieve. The conversation for the early quarterback/head coach duo starts and ends with these two, but a third straight Super Bowl victory for Mahomes and Reid moves them closer to the top of the conversation, with plenty of time left to stand alone on top before everything is said and done. Brady won three Super Bowls before his 30 -year birthday. Mahomes, who turn 30 in September, have already hit this brand. A fourth would keep him well at the pace of tying/Top Brady’s career in everything and possibly in a much faster way.

What is a bold prediction for Sunday’s game?

Carter: I think Chiefs will be the first team that kinda sorta stops Barkley. KC’s defense adapts to the other team’s strengths, and no team’s strength is more clear in the race. I predict a frustrating excursion for Barkley.

Dvorchak: Kansas City holds Saquon Barkley in check. Chiefs were one of the best teams to prevent explosive races this year. Steve Spagnuolo will get Jalen hurt to beat him.

Jackson: Jalen Hurts will convincingly be Super Bowl MVP over my actual choice in Saquon Barkley (you see what I did there). Hurts is right there with Patrick Mahomes as far as mental toughness on the field for quarterbacks is going and he is one of the best pocket -biposing in football.

Dougherty: That there will be no surprises. These are two teams obliged to execute. None of them will try to reinvent the wheel on the Super Bowl on Sunday. Whoever plays the best brand of their “regular football” wins.

Krueger: An Eagles that passes games that ranked 29. Fight and 32. In pass attempts per. Fight, the public surprises with a few explosive plays they didn’t see. The people who equate raw passing totals with the overall quality of a team’s offensive attack would be surprised to know that this season, Eagles passing, ranked like fourth in adjusted completion rate of passport on 10-plus air yards (60, 6 percent) and had the sixth highest explosive playplay player who generated 20 or more meters-among teams this season (10.9 percent) through the air. It is also worth noting per. PFF that Chiefs tied with Giants to the ninth most explosive passing acting (54) this season.

How do you see things playing out on Sunday?

Carter: I have a hard time imagining a game with sideways game script here. Like almost all Chiefs games, I think this will come down to the fourth quarter and no one is better in late game situations than Mahomes. He is simply invincible in these scenarios. I say Chiefs wins 27-24.

Dvorchak: Chiefs win a tight, 27-20 game with a little magic from Mahomes and better execution in high leverage spots. The haters cry “rigged” when the best quarterbacks ever played out his opponent, and one of the best coaches throughout all times his opponent outcomes. Who could have seen this coming?

Jackson: I see Eagles sticking to the race against Chiefs (as opposed to the bills in the AFC championship) and it is effective. If it’s not, be ready for AJ Brown, Devonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. The game goes down to the cord, but Eagles pulls away late and beats Chiefs 34-24.

Dougherty: Like any chiefs game in recent memory. They never really pull away, but the opposition never really threatens. The final looks closely. It will actually * be * close. It just doesn’t really feel like that. Chiefs win a certain variation of a 24-21 ball game.

Krueger: Chiefs had a “legitimate” loss this season that came in a 30-21 loss to the bills in week 11. It requires an almost perfect effort to beat Chiefs. The Eagles perform well and have the pieces in place to reduce this Chiefs team on a given Sunday. That said, Chiefs still has the advantage of head coach and quarterback and is 60 minutes from creating history. While they may not always be flashy, they are effective. I expect Reid and Mahomes to find counters for what Eagles throw themselves and go victorious in a 24-20 victory.