Prime Time Preview: Super Bowl Edition
Hello and welcome to my preview of Super Bowl 57! This year the big game will be on February 12,2023 and held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale,Arizona. This will be the third Super Bowl to take place there. Prior to this year we saw the New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots in 2008 and then in 2015 we saw the Patriots return to defeat the Seattle Seahawks. The game will be broadcasted by FOX. The halftime show will be sponsored by Apple Music for the first time ever with a performance by Rihanna. This year we will watch as the Kansas City Chiefs return for their 3rd Bowl appearance in 4 years led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Their opponents, the Philadelphia Eagles, last went to the Super Bowl in 2017. A little bit of history behind the contending teams personnel: Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was previously the head coach for Philadelphia from 1992-2012 before taking the HC job for Kansas City. He currently has a 3-0 record against his former team. On the other side of the field Philadelphias head coach was previously an assistant coach for the Chiefs until 2012 when we was not retained by none other than new head coach, Andy Reid. In 2021 he took the head coaching job for the Eagles. Another fun connection between teams is the sibling matchup of the Kelce brothers. This will be the first Super Bowl ever featuring two brothers. Jason Kelce of the Eagles is one of if not the top center in the league. His younger brother Travis plays tight end for the Chiefs and is without argument the best tight end in the league. Both of these brothers are former Super Bowl champions themselves respectively. This will also be the first Super Bowl to feature two black quarterbacks and both of them are from the state of Texas. There are a lot of fun records being set in the years championship game.
One thing on many peoples minds as we draw close game time is, how is Eagles QB Jalen Hurts’ shoulder? It has been a few weeks since he has been on the injury report, but he has been very transparent by saying that he is definitely still rehabbing the injury. It’s without a doubt he will play on Sunday, but how much he will actually be throwing the ball is anyone’s guess. Thankfully the Eagles boast the #1 offensive line to protect him. Offensive tackle and major contributor Lane Johnson has been dealing with a groin injury though. He had a limited practice on the latest report but is expected to play on Sunday. Hurts is a really mobile QB as well. He holds the title for most rushing TDs by a QB ever in the regular season and post season combined. The Eagles were 3rd in rush attempts in the league for the year coupled with their 3 main running backs. Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell carry that weight. The Eagles WRs AJ Brown and Devonta Smith will be facing off against a rookie cornerback combo from the Chiefs in the form of Trent Mcduffie and Jaylen Watson. One of the Chiefs key players, defensive tackle Chris Jones, has been under the weather this week. He is a necessary piece of the defense as he had the 4th most sacks in the league this year with 15.5. He isn’t the only guy playing on Sunday with a sack record though. Philadelphia’s linebacker Hasson Reddick had the 3rd most with a total of 16! In fact, there are 4 guys on the Eagles line who had double digit sacks this season. The Eagles have a very scary pass rush. This will be helpful for them due to the fact that Patrick Mahomes lead the league this year in passing yards. On the flip side Kansas City’s offensive line allowed the 3rd fewest sacks this year. This will be quite the match up to say the least. The KC receiver squad is slightly banged up leading up to game day. JuJu Smith-Schuster who is dealing with a knee injury did log a full practice this week, but Kadarius Toney was kept to a limited practice with his ankle injury. That leaves Marquez Valdes-Scantling,Justin Watson and rookie Sky Moore. There is no doubt that we will see Patrick Mahomes on the field. Regardless of how his ankle feels we all know he can play on one foot. He already did it.
Alright, so, what do the odds look like? The sports books are calling for an over/under of 50. Eagles are favored to win in an extremely close contest. They are 1.5 point favorites currently. Eagles 27-Chiefs 24. I could totally see that happening. I can also see it happening the other way around too though.