The two-time defending and four-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, the Lombardi Trophy winner in 2017, square off in N’Awlins for Super Bowl 59 this Sunday at 5:30 PM Central on FOX, as the two teams return to face each other after the Chiefs outlasted the Eagles 38-35 In Super Bowl 57 in February, 2023..

The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts was unstoppable in Super Bowl LXII and looked like he would lead the Eagles down to victory in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. on February 12th, 2023. But Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were gifted with a very favorable defensive holding call on third down in Eagles territory that gave them an automatic first down and an ability to run the clock down and kick the last second field goal to clinch the victory. If the defensive holding call had not been whistled, the Chiefs would have attempted a 40-something yard field goal, which Harris Butker would probably have converted, but the Eagles would have received the ball back with a minute and a half remaining and all three timeouts. With the way Jalen was playing, I firmly expected the Eagles to get the 7 and win the game. He was unstoppable in that game.

 So Hurts and the Eagles are aiming for revenge and Mahomes and the Chiefs are gunning for history as the first team in the NFL to ever win three straight Super Bowls. The prolific Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers won the NFL Championship in 1965 and the first two Super Bowls for the 1966 and 1967 seasons, but not three straight Super Bowls. That’s not discounting what the historically excellent Lombardi and the Packers accomplished; they were all time great. But there was no Super Bowl in the 1965 season, so technically they didn’t three-peat, at least for what would become the Lombardi Trophy. Ironically, Lombardi was so good, they named the trophy after him. If he hadn’t taken the General Manager position for the Packers in 1968 and then left the Packers for the Washington Redskins in 1969, he very well may have won three in a row,ven four in a row, at Titletown before his untimely passing at age of 57 from colon cancer on September 3rd, 1970. He left for the Redskins in 1969 as he was named head coach and executive vice president with full control over football operations and a 5% stake in ownership. The Redskins finished the 1969 season 7-5-2, their first winning record since 1955. The great Lombardi once said to his Packers team, “Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” He’s the lead figure on Football’s Mount Rushmore.

But Mahomes and his Chiefs team can 3-peat in the Super Bowl. It’ll be tough stopping the most resilient team in sports.

Here is a preview below along with a prediction for what is setting up to be a classic 59th edition of the Super Bowl at Caesars Superdome.

NFL Playoffs Record

Straight up: 8-4

Against the Spread: 8-4

Over/Under: 4-8; it’s a learning curve.

Super Bowl LIX

 Kansas City Chiefs (17-2) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (17-3)

 Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, 74,295

 5:30 PM CT

 FOX

 Kevin, Tom, Erin, Tom, Mike Pereira-rules.

Studio, pregame, halftime, postgame: studio host- Curt Menefee, analysts- Super Bowl champions Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Gronk, and Super Bowl winning coach Jimmy Johnson. Also, FOX Insider Jay Glazer with the inside intel.

 Referees: Lead referee: Ron Torbert; Side judge: Boris Cheek; Umpire: Mike Morton; Down judge: Max Causey; Line Judge: Mark Stewart; Field judge: Mearl Robinson; Back judge: Jonah Monroe; Replay official: Kevin Brown.

 Line: Chiefs by 1. Over/Under: 48 ½

Something that has really stood out to me, and I’m sure stands out with Excedrin, is the size of the Eagles offensive line. They average 6’6”, 338. That’s the tallest and largest in Super Bowl history. The 2023 Alabama offensive line averaged 338 across the board as well. They are the two biggest lines of all time in professional and college football.

 For the Eagles, center Cam Jurgens is 6’3”, 303; left guard Landon Dickerson, who may have some of the strongest guns I’ve ever seen, is 6’6”, 332; left tackle Jordan Mailata is 6’6”, 365; right guard Mekhi Becton is 6’7”, 363; and left tackle Lane Johnson, a perennial all-pro, is 6’6”, 325. They are over an inch taller and 26 pounds heavier than the Chiefs O line. I know quickness comes into play as well, but these guys have been very successful if you look at Saquon Barkley’s numbers in the regular season and the postseason. More on Saquon in a minute. The Chiefs’ four man defensive front across the board is left defensive end George Kanlaftis, 6’1”, 263; left tackle Tershawn Wharton, 6’1”, 280; right tackle Chris Jones, an absolute warrior, 6’6”, 310; and right defensive end Mike Danna, 6’2”, 257.

 And then you’ve got the skilled players on both sides. For Philly, it’s Saquon, Jalen, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and, to me, one of the X factors in the game, tight end Dallas Goedert. The great Saquon rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 TDs in the regular season, and has enhanced his resume with a dynamic postseason. Against the Packers in the Wild Card Round, he rushed for 119 yards on 26 carries. Versus the LA Rams in the Divisional Round, he rushed for 209 yards and 2 TDs, including 62 and 78-yard house calls. Against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game, he went for 118 on 21carries and 3 TDs, a 60 yard take it to the house run, and two 4 yard TD runs. The Eagles defeated the Packers, 22-10, the Rams, 28-22, and the Commanders, 55-23, in the Wild Card, Divisional, and NFC Championship games, respectively. Jalen Hurts rushed for three TDs in Super Bowl LVII, and looks totally healthy now after recovering from a knee issue that bothered him at the latter part of the regular season. He’s running well, and he and AJ. Brown, DeVonta and Goedert are definitely on the same page in the passing game. Vic Fangio coordinates  the defense, and he’s a savvy veteran who’s a believer in physicality and aggressiveness. He’s got studs, too. Nolan Smith has four sacks to lead the entire NFL in that category in the postseason.

 And then there’s Mahomes and the Chiefs, a seemingly unstoppable force when it comes to one possession games. Counting the playoffs, according to AI, the Chiefs have won their last 16, one possession games; the longest winning streak of one possession games in NFL history. In his four other Super Bowl appearances, in which he’s 3-1 with the only loss coming to TB12 when Brady was at Tampa Bay, Mahomes is 107-of-164, 65%, for 1,071 yards, 7 TDs against 5 interceptions. Not really overwhelming numbers, but does it matter if the guy always comes out on top? He just always seems to find a way. Andy Reid dials up the plays and Mahomes executes them to perfection in the clutch. He’s one of the most clutch an athletes in sports history. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco will man the ground game behind Mahomes, and the great Travis Kelce along with emerging stellar rookie wide out Xavier Worthy (Texas), maybe the fastest guy in the NFL, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster will test the Eagles secondary. On defense, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnola is considered the best in the game, and his defenses are always exceptional, though the Buffalo Bills rushed for 147 yards on them in the AFC Championship Game at KC. Bills running back James Cook rushed for 85 yards and 2 TDs, and Josh Allen threw for a pair of TDs, but the Bills came up heartbreakingly short once again to the Chiefs, 32-29.

 The Eagles were fortunate the Commanders defeated the Lions in the Divisional Round, so they never had to travel throughout the Playoffs. The Chiefs hosted both playoff games. The Chiefs also defeated the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round, 23-14.

 The kicking edge goes to the Chiefs coming in as veteran Harris Butker has been more reliable than the Eagles veteran Jake Elliott, though Elliott is has been very reliable in the past. He kicked three field goals in the victory over the Rams in the Divisional Round game. He’s struggled from 50 yards and beyond this season. Butker seems automatic from anywhere. The kick and punt return games look to be a wash as are the punters.

Final Analysis and Prediction

This is setting up to be a thriller in the Superdome. Both teams are full of highly talented athletes who are hungry to prove themselves. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley want to win their first respective Super Bowls, and Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs want to make history. There’s no lack of motivation when playing for the Lombardi Trophy. The question is: can the Chiefs be stopped in big games that come down to the end?

 It’s’ hard to feel great about one team over the other because the talent is immense on both sides. It’s next to impossible to go against the superb Mahomes and the Chiefs; extremely hard.

However, I’ll take my chances with Saquon, Jalen and that massive offensive line. I like the Eagles to have success on the ground and some through the air. The Chiefs will too, as you aren’t going to stop Mahomes and company. I like a shootout with the Eagles prevailing.

Eagles 35, Chiefs 34

MVP: Saquon Barkley