Super Bowl 59: Instant predictions for Eagles-Chiefs

Super Bowl LIX is set.

In what will be a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles down in New Orleans in two weeks. For the Eagles, they have a chance to win their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl LII, and a chance to avenge that loss to the Chiefs from a few seasons ago.

For Kansas City they have a chance to accomplish something we have never seen: A Super Bowl three-peat.

There will be two weeks to break this game down, but let’s get a temperature check on where everyone stands right now. Here are SB Nation’s instant predictions for Super Bowl LIX.

Chiefs 38, Eagles 35 — Mark Schofield

At this point it certainly feels inevitable, does it not?

The Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to advance to a Super Bowl after winning the previous two. Every other team in league history that had a chance to three-peat fell short of that third Super Bowl, meaning that with their win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, Kansas City has already made history.

But with their win Sunday over Buffalo, the Chiefs ran their streak of consecutive wins in one-score games to 17. Maybe their luck runs out in the Super Bowl against the Eagles.

Or maybe, just maybe, they’ve made their own luck the whole way.

Eagles 20, Chiefs 17 — James Dator

I’ll echo everyone else here that it sure feels like the Chiefs are going to pull this off again — but I can’t shake the fact that this is the least-talented of the Kansas City teams in the Super Bowl, while this is the best the Eagles have ever been.

Saquon Barkley is such a profound difference maker that Philadelphia is no longer simply the “throw deep and tush push” team on offense. Couple that with a defense that has matured into the league’s most-fearsome unit and I have a difficult time seeing where the Chiefs’ offense is going to make much of an inroad here.

This feels like a low-scoring Super Bowl. Two profoundly talented defensive teams butting into each other. The Chiefs absolutely have the talent to prevent Barkley from running all over them, but so too the Eagles have the secondary and pass rush to stop Patrick Mahomes from having a hero night.

When the dust settles this feels like a game that is going to appeal to deep football nerds and be branded as “boring” by the majority of people. Gritty, defensive, ugly — but in a good way. That’s how I think Super Bowl LIX will go.

Chiefs 29, Eagles 24 — Ricky O’Donnell

The Chiefs are inevitable even in their supposed “down” year. This team just doesn’t lose one score games. Maybe it’s luck, maybe it’s having Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes on your side, but the Chiefs just keep getting away with it in close games. Philadelphia’s offensive line and brutalizing running game should keep this game competitive, but I know who I’m picking when it’s closing time.

Eagles 27, Chiefs 23 — David Fucillo

I suppose I’m Charlie Brown thinking Lucy is going to hold the ball this time around. The Chiefs probably figure out a way to pull this game out in some absurd or ref-assisted fashion.

But maybe Saquon Barkley is the difference against what seems like the inevitability of the Chiefs. Kansas City ranks ninth in rush defense, which is solid, but Barkley has been running roughshod over defenses all season. The Chiefs might be inevitable, but Barkley carrying the Eagles to victory and winning Super Bowl MVP feels like a nice cap on what has been an MVP-worthy season for the Eagles running back.

Chiefs 33, Eagles 27 — James Brady

I thought about picking the Eagles so Travis Kelce could pretend the Chiefs are somehow underdogs who nobody gave a chance to, but I just can’t convince myself to come up with football reasons beyond “that Eagles defensive front might have a slight chance of disrupting Mahomes,” or “Saquon Barkley sure is good.” It’s just not enough to go against the inevitable, the terrible, and the unknowable. The Chiefs won’t lose even if I want them to.