For the third time in four seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs have made it to the Super Bowl. They take on Super Bowl LII winners, the Philadelphia Eagles. The teams haven’t met since October 2021 when the Chiefs emerged 42-30 winners.
There are a couple of notes for this game that should add to the spice despite the teams not clashing often. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid held the same position with the Eagles for more than a decade. The brother of the Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce is Eagles centre Jason. Sadly with both on the offensive side of the ball, they won’t see any time on the field at the same time.
Read on for the BetConnect preview and tips for Super bowl LVII. Prices correct at time of writing on Thursday morning.
What you need to know
When is the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl LVII will be played on Sunday the 12th of February 2023.
Where is the Super Bowl?
Glendale, Arizona is hosting Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.
What time does the Super Bowl start?
Kick off is 4.30pm local time which is 11.30pm here in the UK.
Where can I watch the Super Bowl?
Coverage of Super Bowl LVII will be on both ITV1 and Sky Sports.
Philadephia Eagles (14-3)
“Those who like an outsider, perhaps the Eagles can improve enough to challenge again.” A quote from our preseason preview and while our fancy for the Bills went awry, the Eagles have done us proud! Available at 20/1+ before the season, they have already outperformed those odds significantly to make it to Arizona.
They led the way in the NFC East, a division that saw three teams into the postseason. Neither the Giants nor the 49ers caused the Eagles any trouble in their two playoff games. They gave up just seven points in each of those encounters, producing strong defence that they will need again.
Offensively they put up 69 points in the two contests combined to run out easy winners. This demands more of them again but they have had an outstanding season led by quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts lives up to his name, a threat with his arm and his legs, he can put the hurt on any defence.
Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
Have managed to make it this far despite Patrick Mahomes carrying an injury through both playoff games. Whether he is at 100% or not is going to have a huge part to play in this contest. No-one threw more TD’s in the regular season than Mahomes.
Travis Kelce led the team in receiving TD’s with 12 as well as having 400 yards more than any other teammate. While the Chiefs go through Kelce most, their embarrassment of riches on offence saw them score an average of 29 points per game in the regular season.
They are going to need a more balanced offensive attack if they are to lift another Lombardi Trophy. As such, a lot of weight will be on the shoulders of rookie running back Isiah Pacheco to produce enough of a threat to allow Mahomes the chance for an aerial attack.
Summary
There is little between the offences with the Chiefs ranked number 1 in the NFL and the Eagles number 2. It’s on the defence that the game could be decided. The Eagles are ranked number 3 overall while the Chiefs are only 12th.
In fact, no-one in the league gave up more passing TD’s than the Chiefs in the regular season. Their run defence was much stronger, only givin up 10 TD’s which will make up for an interesting matchup. The Eagles are stronger running the ball so will they keep to their usual game plan or try to force more passing to take advantage?
An interesting point when it comes to those running TD’s is that 6 were from a running back and 4 from an opposition quarterback. They gave up 0 to opposing quarterback’s in their first 11 games of the regular season, the 4 coming in the last 7. That will be music to the ears of Jalen Hurts who rushed for 13 during the season.
The line has the Eagles as a marginal favourite but it is only by a slim margin. This should be a close game, the Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 in the Super Bowl last year, this could be another similar contest.
Predictions
Jalen Hurts Anytime Touchdown Scorer @ 11/10 – Hard to escape the threat of Hurts who can mark his Super Bowl debut with a score.
Skyy Moore Anytime Touchdown Scorer @ 9/1 – Rookie Skyy Moore has played a bigger part in the passing game as the season has progressed, though he is yet to take one to the house. He also takes a few rush attempts when in motion which creates interest given Andy Reid’s love of a trick play.
A speedy player, he will be higher up the wide receiver ranks here with Mercole Hardman out and both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney carrying injuries. Both the latter pair look like suiting up but their plays could be limited if they pick up any sort of a knock.
The likelihood that Travis Kelce will be double teamed most of the day could see a few shots down the field (a la the Tyreek Hill era) in Moore’s direction. As such, he could be worth taking a flier on to pick up his first NFL touchdown.