The line is provided by covers.com.
PHILADELPHIA -1.5 over Kansas City
This is going to sound a little bit crazy, but there are two sides to this game. Insane, I know!
On one side, you have the Kansas City Chiefs, led by the incredible Patrick Mahomes and a defence that has improved vastly down the stretch after some early season hiccups.
On the other, you have the Philadelphia Eagles, which are the better overall team and has a defence that racked up considerable stats, but have a pretty big question mark attached.
Starting on the Chiefs side, you would think that losing an all-pro WR like Tyreek Hill could take a chunk out of their offence, but it has actually been the opposite. Mahomes had his most efficient season yet while taking more checkdowns and using a wide variety of weapons as opposed to focusing on the duo of Hill and Travis Kelce.
It has made the offence more well-rounded and the added attention didn’t slow down Kelce one bit – he has been as unstoppable as ever, especially in the playoffs so far.
The run game hasn’t been needed too much, given Mahomes’ brilliance, but has also been quite effective with rookie Isiah Pacheco emerging as a solid threat on the ground and as a receiving option.
K.C.’s defence has also done more with less and didn’t miss a beat in the AFC championship game despite playing most of the game with four rookie DBs on the field against the high-powered Bengals. Up front, Chris Jones has been immense, wreaking havoc on opposing lines while being moved all over the formation – something even more impressive given his size.
But then there is the Eagles, the team that has looked like the league’s top dogs all season long – as long as Jalen Hurts was healthy. His rushing ability gave the Eagles threats all over the field and was incredibly difficult for opponents to handle. Hurts’ size also gave Philly a distinct advantage in goal-line situations.
With A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith and tight Dallas Goedert, Hurts has no shortage of options when he’s not tucking the ball and running or handing off to Philly’s bevy of running backs.
On defence, the Eagles pass rush was the league’s best this season and among the best ever, thanks to a big influx of talent and depth, which keeps everyone fresh up front. There are no slouches on the back end, either, but they are greatly aided by the lack of time that opposing QBs get to survey the field.
Now, here’s where the big dilemma comes: The Eagles have had an incredibly easy path to get here and, when facing even above-average opponents, the defence hasn’t held up. Of course, it’s not their fault the schedule worked out that way, but there’s something to be said about being battle-tested when we get to the biggest game of them all.
The Chiefs have a big question too, in the form of Mahomes’ ankle. He was noticeably grimacing at times against the Bengals and, if it was truly a high ankle sprain he suffered, it’s doubtful he’ll be at 100% on Sunday. His lack of mobility will be a bigger problem against the Eagles than it was with the Bengals, who don’t have the hosses up front to collapse the pocket.
So, how does this all shake out? The one thing we come back to is the previous time that Chiefs were in the Super Bowl, two years ago against the Bucs. Tampa was able to apply pressure to Mahomes and really limit what he could do on offence. We could see a similar script here while the Eagles have the quick-strike offence that’s capable of going up early and possibly putting this out of reach.
So, grease up the telephone poles in Philly, it’s going to be a long, wild night.
Score: Eagles 30, Chiefs 24
MVP: Jalen Hurts, PHI
Last round: 0-2
Playoffs: 5-7
This season: 131-133-7