There are many good omens heading into Super Bowl 57
by John Kincade
The Eagles have been dominating the NFL for the 2022 regular season and that momentum has carried over into the playoffs. After scoring 38 and 31 points respectively while only allowing 14 points in total this team has been on an impressive rampage. There are some that still don’t want to give them their due, but I assure you it’s just a consistent pattern of moving the goalposts on this impressive group. To counter those that will attempt to tell you why the Eagles being favorites in this game is a mistake, I’ve got a few early tid bits to shut down the trolls.
THE EAGLES DEFENSIVE FRONT DOMINATES
It doesn’t matter who the opponent is and whether they have an impressive offensive line of their own, the Eagles consistently win the battle at the point of attack. Here’s the better news, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t do as good a job of protecting their QB pocket as the SF 49ers did. The Eagles blew through the San Francisco offensive line like a hot knife through butter. When the Chiefs offensive line has an unfavorable matchup it curtails the success of Patrick Mahomes to improvise and create his magic. The Chiefs have the more accomplished QB, but the Eagles should have the QB in the far cleaner pocket.
DON’T SWEAT OUT THE COIN TOSS
Melvin in the Analytics Department is not going to enjoy this message. The coin toss means little to the Eagles. When Jalen Hurts starts in the 2022 season the Eagles were presented the ball 5 times when the coin toss winner chose to defer. It blew up in their face every single time. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense was 5 for 5 in scoring touchdowns when receiving the opening kickoff. The team was 6 for 6 in scoring drives to start the game when receiving the ball when you include the field goal they scored vs Dallas on Christmas Eve.
HEALTH MATTERS
It has been said that the key to winning a Super Bowl is being healthy at the end of the season. Of course this point runs completely contrary to the Eagles only Super Bowl Championship team who were ravaged by injuries. So it’s important yo take nothing for granted when evaluating an opponent. The Eagles still should start all of their 22 regulars vs the Chiefs. Meanwhile, Kansas City is very banged up in their receiving corps and has some other regulars dinged up. It’s all hands on deck in a Super Bowl, but this is an advantage.
EAGLES HOLDING AS A FAVORITE
The Eagles opened as an underdog in Super Bowl 57. The Eagles then ballooned to a 2.5 point favorite. Now the money has moved in favor of Kansas City as the Eagles open this morning as a 1.5 point favorite. The line in the NFC Title Game hovered under 3 points all week until the morning of the game. The Eagles still won by 24 points.
We are now 11.5 days until kickoff. I’m looking forward to a restful weekend before our Super Bowl coverage commences in Arizona next week!
