Dustin Baker’s Super Bowl LIX Prediction
The Kansas City Chiefs hope to pull off an NFL feat that has never occurred — a three-peat.
Dustin Baker’s Super Bowl Prediction | LIX
Andy Reid and Co. have concocted a strange season, never fully blowing the competition out but still habitually winning.
And the Philadelphia Eagles have reached the championship because of a fantastic roster and Saquon Barkley in his absolute prime. So, here’s the breakdown and formal prediction.
A Lesson from Last Year
In 2023, we picked the Baltimore Ravens to eek by the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason. But Baltimore utterly flopped at home in the AFC Championship, and Kansas City later won the chip.
Usually, when teams survive so many close games with victories during a season, it symbolizes undercover weakness or suggests that the team may not be elite after all. The 2022 Vikings can tell you all about it.
However, Kansas City is different. They’re dynastic.
Do you really want to pick or wager against the Chiefs and wake up Monday morning thinking, “Why did I bet against Patrick Mahomes?”
Didn’t think so.
Saquon Barkley = Eagles One Big Hope
While the Eagles have the pass-catching weapons to cook on Sunday, they’ve tended to prefer the ground game with Barkley in charge this year.
Do the Eagles really feel like a team that can come back from a three-score deficit? Probably not.
So, Barkley must be activated early and often, causing Philadelphia to dictate the game — and then just later hoping it can stave off any late-game Kansas City heroics.
If Barkey is held under 60 rushing yards or so, the Eagles will lose. Should he author a Saquonian evening, as he’s done all postseason, Philadelphia may actually win this thing.
But it all comes down to Barkley.
The Pick
Although this current Chiefs dynasty doesn’t quite feel like the Dallas Cowboys’ version, for example, from the 1990s — it just doesn’t feel as dominant — Patrick Mahomes and friends are still dynastic.
Kansas City found ways to win squeaker games all season. Why would it stop now? The Eagles have a fantabulous roster, carefully constructed through wise draft acumen. It just won’t have enough juice to prevent the first three-peat in NFL history.
Chiefs over Eagles | 31 – 27
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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