As we’re days away from Super Bowl 57, we’ve put together a starting offense (and defense) made up of the stars of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.QB: Patrick Mahomes
A lot of the storyline heading into Sunday has been that this game comes down to the best player against the best team. Jalen Hurts has had a remarkable year and exceeded everyone’s expectations, but this is still Patrick Mahomes’s league.
We all have become normalized to some of the otherworldly throws the two-time MVP can make. He’ll need them in order to hoist the Lombardi for a second time.
RB: Miles SandersThe Penn State product rushed for nearly 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl nod. Many diminish his success due to running behind the best offensive line and the threat of Hurts, but who cares?
Miles Sanders is an exceptional runner coming off a two-touchdown showing in the NFC Championship Game. KC’s Isiah Pacheco is a nice back on the opposite sideline, but he is still a rookie and hasn’t seen the volume to put him in Sanders’s class yet.
WRs: AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, JuJu Smith-SchusterEagles AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith posted seasons that speak for themselves. Each ranked in the top nine in receiving yards in the regular season. Their numbers look a little deflated in the postseason, but when you win your two playoff games by a combined 55 points, that’s what happens.
JuJu Smith-Schuster will get the nod as our WR3 complementing Brown and Smith. The Mahomes effect was in full swing in his first season in Kansas City. Finishing with over 900 yards as Mahomes’s number two option, he’s a nice complementary piece to the offense.
TE: Travis KelceWhile this is Travis Kelce’s hands down, Dallas Goedert has developed to a point where he can do everything any of the elite tight ends do. It’s just a matter of him not getting the ball enough. Kelce does everything, and no tight end is targeted more.
The eight-time Pro Bowler has 21 receptions through two postseason games going into Super Sunday. The Eagles will have their work cut out defending him. Maybe they could have Jason Kelce cover his brother like when they were kids.
Offensive Line: EaglesThe Chiefs put out a pretty darn good offensive line, but it’s hard for any unit in the league to come close to Philadelphia’s trench dominance. This O-line sports two of the game’s best, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, who both made the All-Pro team this season. The other three starters were all named to the Pro Bowl or selected as alternates.
If you look back at some NFC Championship Game film, the Eagles’ offensive line mauled what was labeled a dominant San Francisco front seven. This group, more than any, justifies Philly’s status as Super Bowl XLVII favorite.