Eagles-Chiefs: Super Bowl LVII Positional Breakdown

In many ways Super Bowl LVII is like the famed Spiderman meme.

I hope we get Tom Toby and Andrew doing the pointing spiderman meme pic.twitter.com/0YQuVayRoU
— Stephen Mitchell (@Stephenmitchel1) December 9, 2020

On paper there are so many similarities between the Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s a little freaky.

Both teams are 16-3 and entered the postseason as the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences. Through the 17 games of the regular season, each team scored exactly 564 points and had six All-Pro selections, a group that included their starting quarterbacks and a Kelce brother.

Yet, the Eagles and Chiefs went about their success in different ways so who’s better?

Breaking down the team’s rosters might help you with a prediction for Sunday night:

QUARTERBACK

The presumptive MVP and his likely runner-up will pilot the two teams.

A five-time Pro Bowl selection in his five years as a starter, this will be Patrick Mahomes’ third Super Bowl appearance in four years and his floor has been the AFC Championship Game.

Despite losing Tyreek Hill in the offseason, the Chiefs’ superstar threw for a career-high 5,250 yards with 41 touchdowns. To call him the best QB the Eagles have faced this season is an understatement.

Jalen Hurts, meanwhile, had had a breakout year as a dual-threat rarely seen in NFL annals with 3,701 yards passing and another 760 rushing with a combined 35 TDs (22 passing and 13 rushing).

Both are banged up with Mahomes fighting through a high-ankle sprain and Hurts dealing with an SC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder.

The former has performed better in the postseason with the injuries, however.

ADVANTAGE: Chiefs

RUNNING BACK

The Eagles committee consists of lead back Miles Sanders, third-down and hurry-up option Kenny Gainwell, as well as Boston Scott while Kansas City has been going with seventh-round rookie Isian Pacheco as the lead back with veteran Jerrck McKinnon as the third-down back.

Also, Clyde Edwards-Helaire was activated off IR on Monday and could return from a high-ankle sprain,

Sanders, who had a career-high 1,274 rushing yards, is the best pure runner in the game but Gainwell has been the bigger contributor in the postseason for Philadelphia.

Pacheco has proven to be a capable runner (170-830-5) and McKinnon caught 56 passes coming out of the backfield. Neither is particularly good at pass protection which will surely catch Jonathan Gannon’s eye.

ADVANTAGE: Eagles

WIDE RECEIVER

The Eagles possess perhaps the best tandem of wideouts in football with A.J. Brown (88-1,496-11) and DeVonta Smith (95-1,196-7) before the big dropoff to WR3 with Quez Watkins (33-354-3).

The Chiefs are not nearly as explosive and JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) and Kadarius Toney (ankle/hamstring) are dealing with injuries.

Mecole Hardman, meanwhile, was placed on IR with a core muscle injury.

When right, Smith-Schuster is the most accomplished receiver (78-933-3) followed by Marquez Valdez-Scantling (42-687-2), and Justin Watson (15-315-2) is a speed threat.

ADVANTAGE: Eagles

TIGHT ENDS

Dallas Goedert (55-702-3) is a great tight end for the Eagles but Travis Kelce (110-1,338-12) is an All-Pro and already regarded as a future Hall of Famer at the position.

The Chiefs’ Noah Gray is also a bigger threat than the Eagles’ backup Jack Stoll.

ADVANTAGE: Chiefs

OFFENSIVE LINE

The Eagles’ offensive line – from left to right Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo, and Lane Johnson – is the best in football with all five starters either All-Pros, Pro Bowl selections, or Pro Bowl alternates.

As Mailata has gotten healthier, he’s started to dominate again in the postseason but Johnson (torn adductor) and Dickerson (hyperextended elbow) are going to be at less than 100% and Chiefs’ DC Steve Spagnuolo will surely test each with the versatile Chris Jones.

The Chiefs O-Line is in the conversation for being No. 2 in the NFL with four really good players starting with second-year center Creed Humphrey and veteran left tackle Orlando Brown. T

The guards – Joe Thuney and Trey Smith – are also very good players. The weak spot is right tackle Andrew Wylie and that lines up with the Eagles’ best pass rusher Haason Reddick.

ADVANTAGE: Eagles

DEFENSIVE LINE

Philadelphia’s front is the deepest and most successful in football, enabling Gannon to toggle back in fourth between five- and four-man fronts. The edge is handled by Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, and Robert Quinn while the interior boasts Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox, Linval Joseph, Ndamukong Suh, Milton Williams, and Jordan Davis.

It’s an embarrassment of riches.

The Chiefs have the best player, however, in Jones, who has been a wrecking ball. The depth, though is nowhere near what Philadelphia brings to the table.

The edge defenders are Frank Clark, rookie George Karlaftis and Carlos Dunlap, all solid but unspectacular options. Inside, Michael Danna, Derrick Nnadi, and Khalen Saunders pale in comparison to what the Eagles can offer.

ADVANTAGE: Eagles

OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS

The Eagles’ T.J. Edwards has had a wonderful season as the QB of the Philadelphia defense and Kyzir White has been up and down but capable. The Chiefs have an excellent tandem in Nick Bolton and Willie Gay, a high-school teammate of A.J. Brown.

ADVANTAGE: Even

SECONDARY

The Eagles’ cornerbacks – Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Avonte Maddox – are among the savviest in the game. The ability for Maddox and C.J. Gardner-Johnson to mirror each other at slot CB and safety offers Gannon unique flexibility as well.

Maddox, however, is still dealing with a turf toe injury but is expected to play. The final starter is the steady Marcus Epps.

The Chiefs’ best CB is L’Jarius Sneed, who has been dealing with a concussion and a knee injury. He’s supported by two rookies, Jaylen Watson, and Trent McDuffie, the latter of which has played well in the slot. The safeties – Justin Reid and Juan Thornhill –are a more consistent and solid tandem.

ADVANTAGE: Eagles at CB and Chiefs at S

SPECIALISTS

The Chiefs have an All-Pro punter in Tommy Townsend and a kicker who had an off year thanks to an ankle injury in Harrison Butker. The latter, though, is a former NFL scoring leader who has six seasons kicking field goals at over 89% and has been rounding back into form.

The Eagles have a capable kicker in Jack Elliott but have struggled in the punting game with Arryn Siposs and Brett Kern. The team started the practice window on Siposs (torn ankle ligament) and will decide this week if he’s ready to go over Kern.

The return game is Boston Scott on kickoffs and Britain Covey on punts for Philadelphia while K.C. has been nondescript with Pachecho and Toney.

ADVANTAGE: Chiefs

COACHING

The Eagles have one of the better young staffs in football headlined by Nick Sirianni and his coordinators: Shane Steichen and Gannon, not to mention perhaps the best assistant in the league in O-Line coach Jeff Stoutland.

Kansas City, though counters with a Hall of Fame coach in Andy Reid, as well as highly-regarded coordinators in Eric Bieniemy, Spagnuolo, and Dave Toub plus former Chicago coach Matt Nagy. The fact that Reid is 28-3 during his career coming off a bye week tells you all you need to know about Kansas City’s prep work.

ADVANTAGE: Chiefs

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen