WHO GETS THE EDGE

 

WHO GETS THE EDGE?

 

OWNERSHIP

PHI - JEFFREY LURIE HAS BEEN THE EAGLES OWNER SINCE 1994 AND HAS SEEN THEM REACH THE SUPER BOWL FOUR TIMES DURING HIS TENURE: 2005, 2018, 2023 & 2025

KC – THE HUNT FAMILY HAS OWNED THE CHIEFS SINCE THE TEAM WAS FOUNDED IN 1959, THEY HAVE REACHED THE SUPER BOWL SEVEN TIMES: 1967, 1970, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, & 2025

-         I GIVE THE CHIEFS THE EDGE HERE

 

 

HEAD COACH

        PHI – NICK SIRIANNI HAS GOTTEN TO THE SUPER BOWL TWICE IN TOTALITY AND IS 0-1 PENDING TONIGHT’S GAME: 2023 & 2025

            KC – ANDY REID HAS APPEARED IN FIVE SUPER BOWLS WITH THE CHIEFS & SIX IN HIS CAREER (ONE WITH PHILLY IN 2005)

-         THE EDGE GOES TO KC

 

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

        PHI – KELLEN MOORE IS IN HIS FIRST SEASON AS THE EAGLES OC AND HAS BEEN AN OC WITH THREE TEAMS (DAL 2019-2022, LAC 2023, PHI 2024).  EAGLES HAD THE 8^TH BEST OFFENSE IN TOTAL YARDS THIS SEASON

            KC – MATT NAGY IS CURRENTLY IN HIS SECOND STINT AS THEIR OC AND IS IN HIS FOURTH SEASON IN THIS ROLE (2016-2017 & 2023-2024). CHIEFS HAD THE 17^TH RANKED OFFENSE

-         PHI HAS THE CLEAR EDGE

 

 

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

        PHI – VIC FANGIO IS KNOWN FOR BEING ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSIVE-MINDED COACHES IN THE NFL.  HE HAS BEEN A DC FOR SEVEN TEAMS IN HIS NFL CAREER (CAR 95-98, IND 99-01, HOU 02-05, SF 11-14, CHI 15-18, MIA 2023, PHI 2024).  VIC HAS DONE AN INCREDIBLE JOB IN HIS FIRST SEASON AS THEIR DC AND HAS THEM RANKED #1 IN TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED (4,732, 278.4 YPG) AND 2^ND BEST IS POINTS (303, 17.8 PPG)

            KC- STEVE SPAGNOULO IS THE ONLY COORDINATOR IN NFL HISTORY WITH FOUR SUPER BOWL RINGS.  HE’S BEEN THE CHIEFS DC FOR SIX SEASONS AND HAS BEEN A DC FOUR TIMES IN HIS CAREER WITH THREE TEAMS: NYG 07-08, NO 2012, NYG 15-17, KC 2019-PRESENT).  SPAGS DEFENSE RANKED 9^TH IN TOTAL YARDS ALLOWED THIS SEASON (5,451, 320.6 YPG) & 4^TH IN SCORING DEFENSE (326, 19.2 PPG)

-         PEOPLE WOULD CERTAINLY ARGUE SPAGS IS BETTER, THOUGH I AM GIVING THE EDGE TO VIC FANGIO AND THE EAGLES WHO HAD TWO ROOKIE CORNERS NOMINATED FOR ROOKIE DPOTY

 

 

DEFENSIVE BACKS

 

PHI – LCB QUINYON MITCHELL (ROOKIE)

            RCB DARIUS SLAY JR.

            NB COOPER DEJEAN (ROOKIE)

            SS C.J. GARDNER-JOHNSON

            FS REED BLANKENSHIP

 

KC- LCB TRENT MCDUFFIE

         RCB JAYLEN WATSON

         NB CHAMARRI CONNER

         SS JUSTIN REID

        FS BRYAN COOK

-         EDGE GOES TO PHILLY BY A LONG SHOT

 

LINEBACKERS

            PHI - WLB NOLAN SMITH SR./BRANDON GRAHAM

                        LILB ZACK BAUN/JEREMIAH TROTTER JR.

                        RILB OREN BURKS

                        SLB JOSH SWEAT

 

            KC- WLB DRUE TRANQUILL

                      MLB NICK BOLTON

                       SLB LEO CHENAL/ CAM JONES

-         PHI HAS THE EDGE

 

DEFENSIVE LINE

 

            PHI – LDE MILTON WILLIAMS

                        NT JORDAN DAVIS

                        RDE JALEN CARTER

            KC – LDE GEORGE KARLAFTIS

                       LDT TERSHAWN WHARTON/ DERRICK NNADI

                      RDT CHRIS JONES

                      RDE MIKE DANNA

-         CHIRS JONES IS ONE OF THE BEST D-LINEMEN IN THE NFL TODAY, STILL THE EAGLES DL IS THE CREAM OF THE CROP SO PHILLY GETS THE EDGE

 

KICKER/SPECIAL TEAMS

            PHI – K JAKE ELLIOT

                        P BRADEN MANN

              PR/KR COOPER DEJEAN/ISAIAH RODGERS

           

            KC – K HARRISON BUTKER

                       P MATT ARAIZA

             PR/KR NIKKO REMIGIO

-         I AM GIVING THE SLIGHT EDGE TO KC HERE

 

OFFENSIVE LINE

        PHI – LT JORDAN MAILATA

                        LG LANDON DICKERSON

                        C  CAM JURGENS

                       RG MEKHI BECTON

                       RT LANE JOHNSON

 

            KC – LT JOE THUNEY

                      LG MIKE CALIENDO

                       C CREED HUMPHREY

                     RG TREY SMITH

                     RT JAWAAN TAYLOR

-          THE CHIEFS HAVE SOME DECENT GUYS UP FRONT, HOWEVER, PHILLY POSSESSES THE BIGGEST O-LINE IN THE LEAGUE WITH 2-3 POSSIBLE FUTURE HALL-OF-FAMERS UP FRONT.  PHILLY GETS THE EDGE!

 

TIGHT END/ WIDE OUTS

            PHI- TE DALLAS GOEDERT/ GRANT CALCATERRA

                     WRS A.J. BROWN

                                 DEVONTA SMITH

                                JAHAN DOTSON

            KC – TE TRAVIS KELCE

                     WRS DEANDRE HOPKINS/ XAVIER WORTHY

                                 HOLLYWOOD BROWN

                                 JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER

-         THOUGH I DO BELIEVE AT THIS POINT IN HIS CAREER A.J. BROWN IS THE BEST WIDEOUT PLAYING IN THIS GAME, THE CHIEFS HAVE THE BETTER ALL-AROUND PLETHORA OF OPTIONS.  KC GETS THE EDGE

 

RUNNING BACK

                          

            PHI – SAQUON BARKLEY

                        KENNETH GAINWELL

                        WILL SHIPLEY

           

            KC- KAREEM HUNT

                      ISIAH PACHECO

                     SAMAJE PERINE

-         KAREEM HUNT IS A VERY TALENTED RUNNING BACK.  SAQUON BARKLEY IS JUST IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN! THE OBVIOUS EDGE GOES TO PHILLY

 

QUARTERBACK

 

            PHI – JALEN HURTS

 

            KC - PATRICK MAHOMES

 

-         HURTS IS AN IMMENSELY TALENTED ATHLETE AND ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE QBS IN THE NFL TODAY. 

-         PATRICK MAHOMES MEANWHILE IS CHASING HIS 4^TH LOMBARDI, 3^RD IN A ROW IF HE CAN PULL IT OFF

-         ITS PRETTY CLEAR THE EDGE GOES TO KC

 

IT IS HARD TO BET AGAINST ANY DYNASTY ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS LED BY THE MAN THAT PEOPLE ARE CALLING THE NEW G.O.A.T, THOUGH I DO BELIEVE THAT BARKLEY HAS BEEN THE BEST PLAYER IN THE NFL THIS SEASON AND WILL BE ROOTING FOR THE EAGLES (SOLEY FOR THIS GAME) TO TAKE HOME THE LOMBARDI!

SUPER BOWL 59 STATISTICS TO KNOW

 

·       VIC FANGIO- LED DEFENSES ARE 0-8 ALL-TIME AGAINST PATRICK MAHOMES

 

·       MAHOMES IS 15-0 ALL-TIME WHEN PLAYING IN DOMES AND RETRACTABLE ROOFS

 

·       MAHOMES WINNING PERCENTAGE IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN ANY OTHER QB WHEN DOWN DOUBLE DIGITS IN ANY GAME

 

·       WHEN FACING DOUBLE-DIGIT DEFICITS TOM BRADY HELD A 6-8 RECORD, MAHOMES IS 5-2  

 

·       CHIEFS DC STEVE SPAGNUOLO HAS MORE SB RINGS (4) THAN ANY OTHER COORDINATOR IN NFL HISTORY

 

·       16 OF THE LAST 20 SB WINNERS WERE THE AWAY TEAMS; NFL ALTERNATES THE AWAY TEAM EVERY YEAR REGARDLESS OF TEAM WIN % (KC IS THE AWAY TEAM THIS YEAR)

 

·       MAHOMES CAREER RECORD INCLUDING PLAYOFFS- 106-26

 

·       JALEN HURTS CAREER RECORD INCLUDING PLAYOFFS- 54-30-1

 

·       JALEN HURTS IS THE QUICKEST QB TO MAKE IT BACK TO HIS 2^ND SUPER BOWL AFTER A SB LOSS SINCE DENVER’S QB JOHN ELWAY IN 1987 & 1988

 

·       HURTS IS ALSO THE YOUNGEST QB IN THE SB ERA TO HAVE APPEARED IN TWO SUPER BOWLS- 26 YEARS OLD (BEN ROETHLISBERGER WAS ALSO 26, HURTS IS 5 MONTHS YOUNGER THAN BEN WAS IN HIS 2^ND SB)

 

·       PHILLY’S AVERAGE O-LINEMAN IS 6’6” 338 LBS (BIGGEST IN THE NFL)

 

·       KANSAS CITY’S AVERAGE DT IS 6’2”, DE 6’6”

 

·       PFF RANKS EAGLES LEFT TACKLE JORDAN MIALATA THE BEST RUN BLOCKER & BEST O-LINEMAN IN THE NFL THIS SEASON

 

·       PHILLY’S SAQUON BARKLEY ENDED THE REGULAR SEASON AS THE NFL’S LEADING RUSHER (2005 YARDS)

 

·       BARKLEY IS ONE OF ONLY TWO PLAYERS IN NFL HISTORY TO HAVE 2,000 + SCRIMMAGE YARDS WITH MULTIPLE TEAMS (DERRICK HENRY IS THE OTHER)

 

·       BARKLEY WON THE AP OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND THE JIM BROWN AWARD (JIM BROWN AWARD IS FOR THE MOST RUSHING YDS IN A SEASON)

 

·       EAGLES DT JALEN CARTER HAS 34 QB PRESSURES (2^ND MOST AMONG DEFENSIVE TACKLES THIS SEASON INCLUDING PLAYOFFS)

 

·       PATRICK MAHOMES NEEDS ONLY 85 PASSING YARDS TO MOVE FROM 5^TH TO 2^ND PLACE IN MOST PASSING YARDS IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY (BRADY LEADS ALL QBS WITH 3,039 & KURT WARNER IS SECOND WITH 1,156 YDS) 

 

·       IF KC WINS, THEY WILL BECOME THE FIRST TEAM TO WIN THREE CONSECUTIVE SB TITLES SINCE THE SUPER BOWL ERA BEGAN; THE PACKERS WON THREE STRAIGHT TITLES FROM 1966-1968, 1 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP, AND 2 SUPER BOWLS (SB 1 WAS IN 1967)     

 

 

 

 

SUPERBOWL TRENDS THROUGHOUT NFL HISTORY

 

AFC SB WINS                                     NFC SB WINS

27 TITLES                                                                                27 TITLES

 

 

AFC WEST                                                                              NFC EAST

10 WINS                                                                                       13 WINS

 

 

KC CHIEFS                                                                         PHI EAGLES

4 WINS                                                                                             1 WIN

4-2 SB RECORD                                                            1-3 SB RECORD

 

 

COMBINED SCORE TOTAL OF ALL SB GAMES PLAYED PER TEAM

KC                                                                                                         PHI

105 = 21 PPG                                                                    107 = 26.75 PPG

  

COMBINED TOTAL YARDS OF ALL SB GMS PLAYED PER TEAM

KC                                                                                                         PHI

342.33 YPG                                                                                   421 YPG

THIS YEAR AVERAGE YARDS & POINTS PER GAME REG. SEASON

KC                                                                                                        PHI

 327.6 YPG (17^TH)                                                                   367.2 (8^TH)

   22.6 PPG (15^TH)                                                                     27.2 (7^TH)

 

 

 

     AVERAGE YARDS & POINTS PER GAME POSTSEASON

(OUT OF 14 TEAMS)

KC                                                                                                       PHI

  290 YPG (9^TH)                                                                     366.3 (6^TH)

27.5 PPG (5^TH)                                                                   35 PPG (1^ST)

A RUNNING BACK AWAY

                The Denver Broncos have just completed their second season under Sean Payton, one of the best offensive-minded coaches in the NFL today.  During his first two seasons as the Broncos head coach, they’ve recorded eighteen wins and sixteen losses, plus he took the Broncos back to the playoffs for the first time since they won their last Super Bowl (2015-2016).  In only one year Payton, alongside the Broncos' offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, improved their offensive output across the board.  Last season, the Broncos ranked 26th in total yards per game (298.4); this season, they upgraded their position to 19th (324.6).  The offense managed to split the difference in their points per game ranking going from 20th (21.0) last season to 10th place (25.0) this year.   There is no doubt the entire outlook of the Broncos offense has already come a long way in just one year.  The story of their season was about how a rookie quarterback (Bo Nix) threw for 29 TDs, the 2nd most passing TDs by a rookie in NFL history (Justin Herbert had 31 in 2020).

                While the Broncos were able to outproduce both their passing (24th in 2023, 20th in 2024) and rushing yard (18th in 2023, 16th in 2024) totals this season, the offense still lacks something important.  They could and certainly should upgrade their tight-end position through the draft or free agency, though the top priority this offseason needs to be the running back position.  What if I told you the Denver Broncos have not had a thousand-yard rusher in the past six years?  They currently hold the fifth-longest streak of this nature.    Did you know the last time the Broncos drafted a running back who accomplished this milestone was in 2009? (Knowshon Moreno) Crazy right?  That’s the year I graduated high school!  They have only had nine rushers achieve this feat since Terrell Davis’s last thousand-yard season, (three of them ran for 1,000+ yards twice, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, and Phillip Lindsay).   Five of these players were drafted by Denver, two went undrafted, and the other two were free-agent signings.

                This is why I have the certitude that Denver needs to make a major impact this upcoming year by drafting a highly talented running back.  Though not just any runner, I am talking about a guy who fell just twenty-seven yards short of breaking Barry Sanders’ all-time NCAA single-season rushing record, Boise State’s own Ashton Jeanty (2,601 yards).  I’m tremendously confident through watching Ashton Jeanty the past three seasons that he would take Sean Payton’s offense to a whole new level, even as a rookie!  The Broncos are running back away from becoming a great team yet again and possess the top offensive line in the league according to profootballnetwork.com.  This year they made the first round of the playoffs though, with a runner like Jeanty, the mind of Payton plus an immensely talented quarterback in Bo Nix, I firmly believe they can return to a Conference Championship or even the Super Bowl.

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP- WASHINGTON @ PHILLY- DIVISIONAL SHOWDOWN

 

           Who would’ve ever thought that any sports franchise could recreate their entire organization from top to bottom in one offseason and end up one of four teams remaining come the season’s end?  Historically, the Washington Commanders have pulled off the improbable, making what was seemingly impossible, possible!  The Commanders have been the laughingstock of the National Football League plenty of times while under the previous ownership of Dan Snyder.  At this exact time just a year ago the Commanders owned the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.  Then a star was born, rookie Jayden Daniels has had the most impressive rookie season of any QB in NFL history.  The Philadelphia Eagles are no strangers to the NFC Championship as they’ve been here plenty of times in franchise history.  Philly has played in eight Conference Championship games all time, winning 50% of those games, with the last win coming from their current regime under Nick Sirianni.  Statmuse.com shows that in the Eagles Championship wins they have only allowed ten or fewer points, though when they’ve ceded at least fourteen or more points to the opposing offense they have lost those games.

            Normally a Conference Championship isn’t a game played with two opponents in the same division.  It is quite a rarity and will be the first time since 1986, overall, it will be just the 20^th time in NFL history that it has happened.  This deeply rooted rivalry goes way back before Washington’s team even played in Washington. To further elaborate, the football team that now plays its home games in Washington originally started in Boston as the Boston Braves in 1932.  It wasn’t until 1937 that the organization changed hands to become the Washington Redskins, then of course changing the name of the team twice more in the past decade or so.  Washington owns the series record 90-85-5 over Philly, having faced each other only once in the postseason.  When they did meet in the playoffs it was in the Wild Card round, on January 5^th, 1991, with the win going to the Redskins 20-6.  During this long historic feud, Washington had come out on top 45 times in Philly (twice as the Boston Braves) while ending in a tie twice when playing in Philadelphia.  Their only bout in the postseason is included in their 45 wins in The City of Brotherly Love.

            With four teams remaining, they all have unique claims to their cultured past of how their franchise potentially winning the Lombardi would create such a huge meaningful story.  Buffalos would be about how they have not made it to the big game since the early 1990s, to the Chiefs potentially becoming the only team to hoist the trophy three straight years.  Though, the most impressive would certainly be the story of the Washington Commanders.  I mean it is very compelling, groundbreaking, and so unbelievable because we’ve never seen this before in any professional sport!  A rookie quarterback, a first-year owner, a new general manager and to top it all off the first year of the Dan Quinn era.  It would be so appealing that it would probably pique the interest of non-football fans, and even non-sports fans would find it interesting.  The ultimate underdog story would garner so much interest that I am confident they could make millions at the box office about such a feat.  The Eagles story would be headlined by a franchise that won their second Super Bowl after bringing in a running back in the offseason who almost made NFL history in erasing an all-time great player's single-season rushing record.  It’s still intriguing but more so for Saquon Barkley overcoming a terrible team's lackluster personnel and the General Manager's awful decisions to start an incredible career that led him into the arms of his previous team's nemesis.

            This series has had many long winning streaks between these teams, the Birds have experienced the longest losing streak of 11 straight from 1937-1942, though they have also had two 8-game win streaks from 1947-1950 and then again from 1992-1996.  With five games ending in ties, the Eagles had also been through an incredibly rough patch when they played Washington 15 consecutive times without a single win from 1967-1974 (3 tied games along with 12 losses before a win).  If you don’t believe me, go ahead and check for yourself!  Now I understand these stats have no bearing on the game coming up on Sunday afternoon plus the Eagles did already beat the Commanders (26-18) at home in week 11 while also posting a 9-1 record when playing on Lincoln Financial Field this season.  The Eagles have also taken down Washington football teams 44 times in totality when playing in their home stadium.  They also have a few things in their favor regardless of the availability of both tight end Dallas Goedert and center Cam Jurgens come Sunday.  They possess the number one scoring defense, a top-ten run defense, and the best pass defense in the league.  They also have a beast on their defensive line that you can argue a case for being one of the best DTs in the league this season, well at least in the postseason anyway.  Jalen Carter was a major disrupter in the game against the Rams last week and if they are going to beat Washington’s high-powered offense Carter and the rest of the linemen will have to make Jayden Daniels very uncomfortable in the pocket this week to get him off his game.  

            Offensively, Kellen Moore needs to stick to the same game plan that has had the Birds soaring high all year, running the rock and getting the ball into the hands of Barkley in as many creative ways as possible.  Quinn’s defense has come a long way from week one until now, they have the 16th-ranked defense in total yards allowed and the 18th-ranked scoring defense.  It may not sound great, but those rankings are based on the averages throughout the season.  However, don’t be fooled by these rankings and think you can just beat the Commanders by passing the ball as they are a top-five pass defense and have been the best part of Joe Whitt Jr.’s unit.  This is why beating the Commanders will be pivotal for Barkley to be the key to Philly’s success.  The other part of this is for the Eagles' defense to make sure they don’t allow the Commanders to win the time of possession battle and get out to a double-digit lead, which could become deadly for their chances to win since they have the second worst passing defense in the league this year.  Jalen Hurts has thrown 225 or more yards in just six games this season while Daniels has had ten games of such while also rushing for 80 or more yards in four games. (Hurts had 1 game with 80 plus rushing yards).

            In conclusion, while this will be the 20^th time two divisional adversaries compete in the Conference Championship game, the home team has the edge 14-5 in the last 19 games.  It is also worth noting that Washington holds a 5-1 record in NFC Championships all-time, 2-1 when facing an NFC East opponent (beat Dallas twice in 1972 & 1983, lost to New York in 1987), with their only loss coming on the road.  Philly has a 4-2 record when playing these games at home and has won their only division matchup in this round of the postseason (beat Dallas in 1981).  Leading up to the game on Sunday at 3 PM, the Commanders are a +6.5 underdogs on the road for the third consecutive week as the NFC’s six-seeded team.