The stage is set as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII from State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona on Sunday.
Past winners clash.
t’s an interesting match up between two franchises that have recently won one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. The Eagles won their first ever Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2019 with a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots at the U.S. Bank Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kansas took the title in 2020 with a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers at the Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida. That was the second time that the Chiefs have won the Super Bowl, but they were unable to repeat that feat when losing the 2021 Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Who will come out on top this year? We’ll preview this much anticipated game and try to solve the puzzle.
Can’t be separated.
The odds suggest that this is going to be a very tight affair. The bookmakers have the Eagles as the very slight favourites to win their second Super Bowl, with the Chiefs the narrow underdogs. That shows that they’re struggling to separate these two in the betting markets and pretty much anything’s possible.
It’s the Chiefs who have the more recent experience of playing in this showpiece event and that could play to their advantage here. However, their route to this year’s Super Bowl hasn’t been as smooth as they would like. A 27-20 win over Jacksonville Jaguars, was followed by an even tighter 23-20 victory over Cincinnati Bengals on route to this match up.
Solid defence.
The Eagles’ defence is what has gotten them to the big stage here. In each of their play off games, they’ve conceded just seven points, a total of 14 across two games. But titles cannot be won with just a good defence, Philadelphia have also been killing it in the offence in the postseason.
They kicked off their postseason with a convincing 38-7 rout over the New York Giants, which set up a mouthwatering clash with the 49ers. In a matchup between the NFC’s top two teams this season, it was the Eagles who again dominated at both ends of the field, coming away with a 31-7 win.
Creative offence.
This could be a game in which both team’s offensive lines take the spotlight. We know that neither side is shy in going forward, but it could take some creativity on the part of the Chiefs to break a resolute Eagles defence.
Philadelphia won’t have such issues from a creative perspective. Jalen Ramsey is having arguably his best ever season at QB and Head Coach Nick Sirianni has shown that his side are more than capable of mixing things up to give even the best defensive lines issues.
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid will have his work cut out here to stop the favourites, but his extensive experience could come in handy and help his side cause a minor upset. One thing’s for sure, we’re in for one hell of a game.
