You’ll hear plenty about the coaching, postseason experience, and quarterback advantages the Kansas City Chiefs have over the Philadelphia Eagles leading up to the big game at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday, February 9.
Here are another three reasons why the Chiefs will top the Eagles in Super Bowl 59.
Three reasons why the Chiefs will win the national championship
Offensive depth
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes now have their full complement of skill-position weapons. The Chiefs might lack the same flashy, brand-name talents hitting the field for the Philadelphia Eagles, but Kansas City still has sneaky offensive depth.
Starting in the backfield, Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco are complemented by Samaje Perine, and the receiving corps is flush. Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy are speedsters with big-play potential, while JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeAndre Hopkins are proven chain movers.
The emergence of tight end Noah Gray as a secondary option alongside Travis Kelce also adds another dimension to the aerial attack. Collectively, this is a dynamic and difficult offense to match up against and defend due to the wealth of talent and varying skill sets.
Clock-churning drives
The Chiefs paced the NFL with an average of 6.7 plays for 3:08 per drive during the regular season.
Add ranking second with a 48.5 third-down conversion percentage, and Kansas City controlling the tempo with long, clock-churning drives will both keep its defense fresh and keep the Philly offense on the sidelines.
Mahomes also finished this season with a career-low 6.8 yards per attempt and a career-high 67.5 completion percentage, with plenty of weapons at his disposal to methodically march the offense down the field.
Ultimately, it complements KC defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s ability to make savvy in-game adjustments.
Special teams
Close games are often won on the margins, and there’s a decent gap in the PFF special teams grades for the fifth-ranked Chiefs (89.2) and 15th-ranked Eagles (79.3).
With both teams sporting middling punt- and kick-return averages during the regular season, while also allowing similar return averages, the gap in the grades likely aligns with Philly kicker Jake Elliott’s struggles.
Elliott missed eight field goals during the regular season to post the second-lowest field goal percentage of his career (77.8%), and he also missed his lone attempt against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game. His postseason 95.7 FG% is next to flawless, but how confident will head coach Nick Sirianni be?
Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker has a 90.0 FG% across 21 postseason games, including going 9-for-10 in the big game. This will be Butker’s fifth Super Bowl appearance, and the moment definitely won’t be too big for the three-time champ.
