It’s the final Five for Friday of the season! Since I obviously don’t have 5 games to predict, I instead broke down the game into 5 categories with 5 things under each category. It should be a great game, so lets dive in!

5 Things I know:

1. Tom Brady is going to talk a lot. Tom is like your friend who has a lot of knowledge about a topic that you really care about but he talks so much about it, that you began to care less and less about it and just hope he finally shuts up.
2. It will be a close game. Both teams are great with good players and coaches. But that doesn’t even really matter. The Chiefs only play close games. It doesn’t matter if they are playing the best team in the league or the worst team in the league, it is always close. This game will be decided by 1-10 points.
3. This is a historic game. Win or lose, the Chiefs have made it farther than any other team that won back to back championships in the Super Bowl Era. Saquon Barkley also has the chance to rush for the most yards in a season including post season. History will be made on Sunday.
4. 22/53. As I evaluate this game, I believe that the Eagles have the better starters or the top 22. They aren’t the best at every position. But if you went position by position, the Eagles would have a higher number of players that would be ranked a head of their Chief counter part. At the same time, I think the Chiefs have more depth and their non starters are better than the Eagles. So it sets up for an interesting game, the best 22 in the league vs the best 53 in the league.
5. Complaints about the refs. I guarantee if you are a Chiefs fan, at some point one of your non Chief fans buddies is going to text you or post on social media that the Chiefs are cheaters or it is rigged because of some controversial or poorly timed call. You can bet on it.

5 Things I Think I know:

1. Kareem will score a td. Kareem Hunt has scored a td in every playoff game he has ever played in. I don’t see a reason for that to end now. Especially since we don’t get a lot of big plays.
2. Trick Plays. Every Super Bowl, one or both teams pull out some trickery and unleash something they have saved all year. I don’t foresee that changing this year.
3. There will be a Tush Push for a TD. It’s unstoppable. It’s annoying. It’s inevitable.
4. Travis Kelce will be wide open. At some point during the game, probably in a crucial moment, Kelce will catch a pass where he is wide open and everyone at home will question how any team lets that happen.
5. Passive aggressive tweets from Tyreek. No matter what happens, win or lose from the Chiefs, Tyreek will tweet something about it. It’s like a real life break up. One party moves on to a happier life and great success. The other party pretends to be overly happy early on but the happiness is short lived and then he is jealous from a distance. Stalking them on Facebook. Just hoping they will one day pine for him too. Sadly, there will be no pining.

5 Keys for the Eagles:

1. Don’t give up on the run. The Chiefs will make a strong attempt to stop the run. They may even do so early on. But the last thing the Eagles want to do is be one dimensional.
2. Attack the middle of the field. The Chiefs defense is very, very good. But their weaknesses is their linebackers and one of their safeties, are not great in coverage. The middle of the field is where to attack them when passing.
3. Have sound special teams. The Chiefs are very solid in this area so the Eagles need to avoid giving up any big punt or kick returns. Jake Elliot has been a little shaky lately too. A missed extra point or easy field goal could cost them.
4. Don’t let Kelce beat you. I feel like we say this every year and every year Kelce beats people. And the Chiefs have other people who can, just ask the Bills. But the easiest path to the Chiefs success is through Kelce.
5. Don’t give Pat the ball last. It will be a close game. It always is. You want to have the ball last because if Pat has the ball last, we all know what happens there.

5 Keys for the Chiefs:

1. Stop Barkley. The Eagles have a lot of weapons that can beat you. But the most obvious one is Saquon and it all runs through him. You can’t stop him completely but if you don’t give up any massive runs you got a shot.
2. Protect Pat. The O line has had issues all year but has gotten better since moving Thuney to tackle. But our inside guys will have their work cut out for them against very good defensive tackles. But if they can protect Pat, the Chiefs should be in good shape.
3. Run the Ball. The Chiefs also need to have good balance. Getting 3 or 4 yards is good enough. So don’t give it up. The RPO game has been strong lately but it only works when the defense believes you might actually run.
4. No Turnovers. The Eagles are a ridiculous plus 10 in the turnover battle in the playoffs. And they have zero turnovers in the playoffs. The Chiefs are 34-1 the last 3 years when they tie or win the turnover battle. If they lose the turnover battle, they are still 14-9 which is good but not 34-1 good.
5. Win on 1st and 2nd down on defense. 3rd and short leads to a tush push and if they don’t get it, that leads to another tush push on 4th down. And the Tush Push is impossible to stop.

5 Predictions:

1. D-Hop has a big game. Hopkins hasn’t made a big impact since the first few weeks after he joined the team. But guess what, he is due. The Eagles play a lot of zone and I am sure they will be paying attention to Kelce. That leaves room for D-Hop to get open. And doesn’t feel like they have been saving him for something special? Is there is nothing more special than the Super Bowl.
2. A QB will be MVP. If the Chiefs win, Pat will be MVP. He is always MVP. I don’t think the Chiefs will let Barkley beat them, which means in order for them to win, Hurts will have to have a big game. And most of the time the MVP goes to the QB.
3. Dallas Goedert has a big game. The Chiefs will try and stop Barkley, AJ Brown and Smith in that order. That means Goedert should have a good game. As a bonus the Chiefs are awful at guarding tight ends…literally last in the league.
4. Kelce has a TD. On the biggest stage, Kelce shines the brightest. He finds the end zone in this one.
5. Barkley is held under 100 yards. I think he will be solid and get involved in the passing game. But in 18 playoff games that Spags has coached for the Chiefs, no running back has ever rushed for 100 yards.

Final Prediction:

This should be a great game. I think this is a 50/50 game where either team could win. In the end, I just trust Pat and Andy and Spags over the Eagles. They always do just enough to win. Whatever it takes from the offense, defense and special teams. Give me the Chiefs for the 3-peat in one final ridiculous close game.

Chiefs 31 Eagles 30