November 17, 2023
It's the long-awaited Super Bowl rematch, Kelce Bowl IV, the Swift...Showdown? Whatever you want to call it.
Either way, Monday night against the Chiefs will be the Eagles' toughest test yet.
Will they have another statement to make coming out of the bye?
Here are our thoughts and predictions:
TV: ABC, ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters), ESPN2 (Peyton and Eli Manning)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese, Mike Quick)
| Sportsbook | Spread | Money Line | Total O/U |
| DraftKings | KC -3 | PHI +130 KC -155 | 46.5 |
| FanDuel | KC -3 | PHI +130 KC -154 | 46.5 |
| BetMGM | KC -3 | PHI +125 KC -150 | 46 |
| UniBet | KC -3 | PHI +116 KC -141 | 46.5 |
| PointsBet | KC -3 | PHI +125 KC -150 | 46.5 |
There are a number of matchups in this game that I believe are in the Eagles' favor.
But in this matchup, it's hard getting past the fact that the Eagles' pass defense has been lit up by a bunch of average quarterbacks this season:
• Week 1: Mac Jones: 35 of 54 for 316 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 91.3 QB rating.
• Week 2: Kirk Cousins: 31 of 44 for 364 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs. 125.6 QB rating.
• Week 4: Sam Howell: 29 of 41 for 290 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 98.6 QB rating.
• Week 8: Sam Howell: 39 of 52 for 397 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 114.0 QB rating.
• Week 9: Dak Prescott: 29 of 44 for 374 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 115.2 QB rating.
None of those guys are remotely on the same level as Patrick Mahomes. #Analysis.
Can the Eagles slow Mahomes down? Sure, they've had some good defensive performances this season, most notably against Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins in primetime Week 7, and it's worth noting that the Eagles should have their best starting secondary (minus Avonte Maddox, of course) for the first time since acquiring Bradley Roby and Kevin Byard.
But when you give Andy Reid an extra week to prepare (he's 29-4 in those situations, including the postseason), it's hard to imagine the Eagles' secondary slowing down this Chiefs offense.
I really was trying to find a way to pick the Eagles here, but they're on the road. They're facing Andy Reid and the Chiefs after a bye week, and the Philly secondary hasn't really shown it can slow down a good quarterback.
The Super Bowl rematch is also a rematch of two really great lines, and Patrick Mahomes should be able to find open receivers with his offensive line handling the high-powered Eagles pass rush.
I expect this to come down to the wire but if Kansas City has the ball last, Philadelphia loses in a shootout.
The Birds fall in Chiefs-Eagles II.
It’s clutch that the Eagles are coming off a bye ahead of their toughest matchup of the season. The downside is that Kansas City is doing so as well and Andy Reid (did you know he used to coach the Eagles?) is so utterly dominant coming off a bye in his own right.
The Eagles’ pass defense is in worse shape than it was in 2022 and in Super Bowl LVII, too. Patrick Mahomes, unfortunately for Eagles fans, is primed to carve up this secondary in Kansas City while the public is treated to constant shots of traitorous former Eagles fan Taylor Swift in a luxury suite.
If a third installment in this saga comes in February in Las Vegas on a neutral (and working) field, however, I’m leaning the Eagles’ way.
Patrick Mahomes is going to tear up the secondary. The Eagles' offense is going to look like a mess until it somehow puts together two or three insane scoring drives to put them ahead, then leave it to the defense to make a stop in the last 10 minutes as they go back to stalling out again.
It's going to be down to the wire, it's going to be infuriating, and it's going to be the worst game ever.
But the Eagles are going to win.
Like it's been every week.
Tough week for the Birds despite an extra day on the schedule and coming off the bye. Andy Reid and the Chiefs are also off the bye and Patrick Mahomes is just deadly in the month of November. But so is Jalen Hurts, really any time of the year. The Eagles' last loss against a winning team came in the Super Bowl and this year they seem to step up no matter how poorly they play earlier in the game.
It’s hard to say the Eagles can win while still making similar mistakes that have plagued them earlier in the year, but the Chiefs have struggled to look anything like their former selves – the same Super Bowl-winning offense, to say the least.
Here’s what we know: Steve Spagnuolo has that Kansas City defense playing exceptionally well, much better than the Super Bowl. Travis Kelce is also undefeated when girlfriend Taylor Swift is in attendance. Now the Eagles need to beat three things in order to win this game: A new and improved defense, their own mistakes – limiting turnovers – and the power of Swift.
Eagles +3 is a great bet but they fall just short.
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