Chiefs vs Eagles: who will dazzle?

By: Jake Rajala

The secret is out: the Chiefs (yet, again) are squaring off against the Philadelphia Eagles in the big dance. Well, I’m going to take a fine angle by untwining several bold predictions for the match-up.

Saquon Barkley runs for 200+ yards

Saquon Barkley is rightfully an MVP candidate. All he did was run for 2k yards this past regular season. Over the past three games, Barkley has average 147 rushing yards per game. I believe he can gash the Chiefs defense that let James Cook run wild for 6.5 YPC last weel. If he runs for over 200 yards, don’t be surprised.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has two turnovers

CGJ should have a healthy dose of Travis Kelce. I expect Mahomes to not test Darius Slay out-wide, which should hand many opportunities for CGJ covering Kelce in the slot.

Chris Jones gets 2 sacks

We witnessed Aaron Donald play lights out not too long ago in the Super Bowl. I expect the Chiefs to really lean on Chris Jones to dismantle the interior of Philly, where Jason Kelce no longer stands.

Patrick Mahomes only throws one touchdown

Andy Reid won’t let Mahomes drop back an infinite amount of times against a daunting Eagles pass rush. He will dazzle in reverses and a large amount of misdirection with the run. I expect Mahomes to not throw a couple of touchdown passes in this game.

Zack Baun gets a pair of sacks

The Chiefs like to play it cute with Mahomes in space. They love to have him roll out on 3rd and 4th in short. This could leave Zack Baun, who is superb in space, to take him down a couple of times.

Travis Kelce only has two or fewer catches

The Eagles won’t let Travis Kelce find space in zone coverage to get huge chunks. Kelce unusually had a pair of catches last week. I believe the blue-print is out on slowing down Kelce. However, the Chiefs can still put up a lot of points without Kelce.

The Eagles will win by a couple of scores

I believe the Eagles will put up 30+ points with Barkley leading the way. They also have a pair of elite wideouts. Furthermore, Philly has a defensive line that can get home without blitzing. The Eagles once surprised and defeated Tom Brady. I believe Philly can not only surprise in winning, but I believe they can win by a couple of scores.