Partner Content | WagerTalk’s best Super Bowl 57 bets: Back the underdog Chiefs to win

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As we’ve been around for all of the past Super Bowls, we’ve seen several teams that looked untouchable in the regular season continue that trend through the playoffs en route to a victory in the deciding game.

Every once in a while, one team really is clearly the best and brushes aside all challengers like they’re furniture dust. Will that be the case for the Philadelphia Eagles?

The Eagles are slim betting favourites over the Kansas City Chiefs for the neutral site game at State Farm Stadium in Arizona on February 12. Find our analysis and predictions for the game below.

Super Bowl 57 bets

Now let’s get back to answering that question about the Eagles for Super Bowl LVII. Do the Eagles really fit the profile of the powerhouses from the past that dominated the regular season and went on to win it all?

Philadelphia won an NFL-best 14 games in the regular season (tied with the Chiefs) and then roared through the NFC half of the playoffs, outscoring the Giants and Niners by a combined score of 69-14.

There’s evidence the Eagles might be as good as the dominant teams we’ve seen before (think Don Shula’s Dolphins or Tom Landry’s Cowboys), having stayed unbeaten into November behind quarterback and MVP runner-up Jalen Hurts.

How good are the Eagles really?

The Eagles only tailed off slightly in the final weeks of the season when Hurts, after posting monster numbers and resembling his college self at Alabama and Oklahoma for much of the campaign, was sidelined in late December with shoulder problems (the Birds were -2 with backup Gardner Minshew at the controls).

Upon Hurts’ return, Philly finally sewed up the NFC East and home edge in the conference playoffs with its second win (though a bit laboured) over the Giants in four weeks, but after a bye week to rest and recoup, the Birds have performed like their early-season selves again and romped their way back to the Super Bowl for the first time in five years.

Fundamentals seem in order, with Hurts back in the saddle with his core of playmakers (DeVonta Smith, AJ Brown, Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell) on the attack end, and a top-shelf defence loaded with ballhawks emboldened by a lethal pass rush that piled up 7 sacks in the regular season (third most in NFL history).

But even Howard Eskin’s and Ike Reese’s most-fervent listeners can’t claim that Philly is unbeatable, not after a modest Washington, with Taylor Heinicke at the controls, was able to win at the Linc in mid-November. And while Hurts’ absence was a legit excuse for the December 24 loss at Dallas, the defence was hardly dominant vs. the most complete attack it faced all season, pierced by Dak Prescott’s 347 passing yards and three passing touchdowns while surrendering 4 points.

Also, let’s face it, any chance the 49ers had to stay competitive in the NFC title game effectively went out the window on SF’s first series when QB Brock Purdy was KO’d with an arm injury, eliminating any downfield passing threat.

So, though having pulled out a couple of games late on the road at subpar Arizona and Indy in the regular season, if there’s one thing this Philly edition still needs to prove, it’s that it can win under duress in the playoffs… something the Chiefs have patented lately when qualifying for their fourth Super Bowl appearances in five seasons.

Chiefs might be underdogs, but they’re a problem

Most recently, Patrick Mahomes’ well-publicized ankle woes forced KC to do some improvising this postseason, but the Chiefs adjusted enough with Mahomes anchored in the pocket to stay out of significant danger vs. the improving Jags. Mahomes had regained sufficient mobility to sustain enough scoring advances against a nasty Bengals defence in the AFC championship game to get KC back to the Big Game.

Getting two weeks off before kick-off in Glendale, Mahomes’ ankle can be expected to be closer to normal and not prevent his patented ability to go off-script, crucial to his well-documented magic that might be able to diffuse some of the relentless Eagle defensive push.

Yet even if Mahomes is functioning close to 1%, and effective, that only gets KC halfway there, as the defence will be challenged by a robust Philly ground game that set the table for Hurts all season and was particularly effective in the divisional round vs. the G-Men when bulldozing for 268 yards and making things easier for Hurts.

Though not as accomplished as its Eagles counterparts, the KC stop unit has had a knack of rising to the occasion in recent years, as it did in the Super Bowl three years ago vs. the Niners and again in the AFC title game vs. the Bengals, taking advantage of a weakened Cincy forward wall to keep Joe Burrow (sacked five times) off balance much of the evening at Arrowhead.

Let’s not forget that vet KC defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has a couple of Super Bowl rings, too, having devised the game plan to stymie Tom Brady and the 18- Patriots back in Super Bowl XLII, and weathering a chop-busting San Francisco infantry in LIV. While Mahomes gets deserved accolades, KC also has a stop-end superstar in pass-rush terror Chris Jones, who led all DTs in pass rush win-rate despite constant double-teams, and recorded 15.5 sacks, a large part of KC’s not-too-shabby haul of 55 in 222.

Super Bowl 57 bets: Don’t count out the MVP

Thus, we are not expecting another Philly cakewalk and still suspect that Hurts’ shoulder is at something much less than 1% (which sources say won’t heal properly for several months), reflected in many throws without the customary zip the past two rounds.

This time, the Eagles might need a razor-sharp Hurts, because only once has a Mahomes-led KC lost contact in 13 playoff games (the Super Bowl two years ago on Tampa Bay’s home field). Of those 13, the Chiefs won 1 times.

As long as Mahomes’ receivers are healthy enough to go (only Mecole Hardman, out almost continuously since midseason, has been ruled out), plus safety-blanket TE Travis Kelce (21 receptions in two playoff games), and the infantry bit upgraded from recent versions with rookie Isiah Pacheco, KC and its NFL-best 28.2 point-per-game offence is a good bet to trade points with anybody.

Given the Chiefs’ experience in down-to-the-wire playoff games, Andy Reid can cement his place in Canton by beating the team that gave up on him a decade ago.

Totals note: With both of these teams recently landing under (4- between them this postseason), and both QBs apparently operating at something a bit less than 1%, we expect that recent playoff trend to continue.

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