KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (15-3) vs PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (14-3)
LINE: Kansas City by 1
There’s a of lot screaming: ‘Take Philly’ and ‘Fly Eagles fly’. They have the best roster in football and get the nod in the trenches matchup. They have Saquon Barkley, who’s been a man on a mission ever since he was snubbed by the Giants. They even have Dan Bilicki, who seems to narrowly prevail in our picks battle every year. But I’m not going against the grain because young Dan and I, incredibly, are deadlocked after 277 games this season and I want to finally take him down. I’m on the Chiefs because I believe their defensive co-ordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, will have more of an impact than Eagles DC Vic Fangio, that Chiefs pass-rusher George Karlaftis (three sacks, seven QB hits and three tackles for losses in two post-season games) will rattle Jalen Hurts, that big Chris Jones will keep Barkley below his three-game playoff average of 147.3 rushing yards, and that Travis Kelce is going to bust loose on an Eagles defence that allowed Commanders tight-end Zach Ertz to catch 11 passes for 104 yards in the NFC Conference Championship game. Mostly, I believe in Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, and that the latter will figure out a way to minimize damage done by the Eagles’ intense pass rush on the former, who was sacked 36 times this season and must have serious trust issues with his tackles. Finally, in pursuit of an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl win, I love the Mahomes-Reid combo to outperform Hurts and Nick Sirianni. My crystal ball shows the untrustworthy Jake Elliott missing wide right on a field goal attempt to win, thus building on my favourite stat for this day: Reid is 32-7 SU when having extra time to prepare for an opponent. I don’t believe the Chiefs will win by a single point. What are the odds of Dan and I remaining tied through 278 games?
TAKING: KANSAS CITY -1
Chiefs 24, Eagles 22