Ben Staker
Sports Editor
After a full season of action-packed football, the matchup for Super Bowl LIX is set. It will be a rematch of Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
To get here, the Eagles trampled the Washington Commanders 55-24 in the NFC Championship behind an impressive defensive gameplan and three Saquon Barkley rushing touchdowns. This will be the Eagles’ second Super Bowl appearance in the last three seasons.
As for the Chiefs, in the AFC Championship, they beat the Buffalo Bills in a 32-29 thriller. After a back-and-forth game involving five lead changes and a tie, it was a Harrison Butker field goal and clutch fourth-quarter stop by the defense that sent the Chiefs to their third straight Super Bowl.
In their last Super Bowl matchup, the Chiefs secured a controversial 38-35 victory following a holding call on cornerback, James Bradberry. Despite the previous matchup being only two years ago, both teams look vastly different in terms of players and philosophy.
Last time around, it was the passing game from both teams that carried their offense. However, the Eagles’ acquisition of running back Saquon Barkley and the Chiefs adopting a more conservative style of football have caused both teams to become more run-heavy.
This matchup also sees two of the best defenses and defensive coordinators going head-to-head. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is in search of his fifth Super Bowl win, the most of any coordinator in NFL history. On the other side, veteran Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is looking to add his first career Super Bowl win to an already impressive resume.
With both teams’ recent philosophy changes, look for this to be an old-fashioned game of football won on the offensive and defensive line. Whoever is able to control the line of scrimmage will likely become this year’s Super Bowl champion.
After watching both teams multiple times this season, it’s still a difficult game to predict. Both the Eagles and Chiefs have appeared to be the best team in their respective conferences almost all season.
The thing that makes this game so difficult to predict is the potential each team’s offense has. While they are two of the best defenses in the entire league, it’s difficult to bet against Patrick Mahomes or Barkley. Eventually, something has to give.
After a hard-fought game with a few lead changes, I think the Kansas City Chiefs win 23-21 on a walk-off field goal to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
As much as I would like to see a new team win the Super Bowl, I’ve learned not to pick against Mahomes.