It feels like ages since the Eagles were not favored in a game. Heck, they were even favored in Week 18, when none of their starters played against the New York Giants.
The Eagles dominated on both sides of the ball all season and postseason. And yet, the Birds are underdogs in Super Bowl LIX — by just 1.5 points via most betting outlets — despite them having arguably the better roster and a bevy of advantages over the Kansas City Chiefs.
We scoured the internet to see if the pundits, experts and football writers who do this sort of thing every day had respect for the underdog Eagles, and not surprisingly, a Chiefs three-peat seems to be the consensus.
It started on TV earlier this week:
It’s beautiful 😍 pic.twitter.com/NoP5T6qTOX
— Life of a Philly Fan (@PhillyFanLife) February 6, 2025
We already made our picks here at PhillyVoice — with the Eagles presumed to be the victor by three of our four football writers. Here's a look at how the rest of the football media world disagrees:
ESPN: Chiefs (27-24*)
We'll start with the aforementioned "Worldwide Leader." A big thank you to their website for aggregating the Super Bowl pick and score of 67 of their writers. A whopping 41 of them, or just over 61% picked the Chiefs — with 27-24* as the most frequently picked score. Interestingly, 63 of those writers picked a one-score game (something which very much favors the Chiefs). Patrick Mahomes got 37 ESPNer's MVP predictions with 19 for Saquon Barkley.
NFL.com: Chiefs (27-25)
Okay, try not to freak out. NFL.com had 22 of their staffers — including Mike Florio, Maurice Jones-Drew, Gerald McCoy and Lance Zierlein — pick the winner and score of Super Bowl LIX. All 22 picked the Chiefs, with the average score coming to 27-25 Kansas City. Dan Parr summed it up best:
The Eagles are the better all-around squad, but the best team doesn’t always win. The Chiefs’ edge at quarterback allows them to squeak out of New Orleans with a three-peat. [NFL.com]
Bleacher Report: Eagles to cover
Finally, some credit to the Eagles. Seven writers at BR picked their winners against the spread, and four of them went with Philly. Here's what editor Ian Hanford had to say about his Eagles pick:
- MORE EAGLES
- Eagles-Chiefs: Staff picks, betting odds, and more for Super Bowl LIX
- Jimmy Kempski's Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl LIX pick
- Eagles' C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship say they're the best safety duo in the NFL
My gut picks the Chiefs while my brain tells me the Eagles and this time, I'll trust my head, knowing that I may regret it, but Philadelphia has the ingredients you need to slow down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Eagles dominate the trenches on both sides of the ball, but their pass rush should have a major impact. Mahomes was sacked 36 times this season, and I expect Vic Fangio to find ways to continue that trend. Keeping Mahomes in a shrinking pocket and not allowing him to create should slow down the Chiefs offense enough to allow the Eagles to control the tempo, lean on the run game, grind out an upset win and complete their revenge tour. [Bleacher Report]
FOX Sports: Chiefs (barely)
FOX polled 15 of their football personalities — including several former Eagles (like Emmanuel Acho, Chase Daniel and LeSean McCoy — and eight of them went with Kansas City. Daniel seems pretty confident the team he used to be a backup QB for will be on the losing end:
Chiefs are winning, no doubt about it. I think a last-second field goal by Harrison Butker is the defining factor. I love the way the Chiefs' O-line can play against the Eagles' defensive line. If you keep Mahomes out of pressure, he will take over the game. [FOX Sports]
CBS Sports: Chiefs
Will Brinson, Pete Prisco and Tyler Sullivan each published columns detailing their Super Bowl picks, and went with the Chiefs winning, with scores of 31-28, 30-27 and 28-24 respectively. Prisco is predicting some serious drama and heroics from Kansas City in a clutch spot:
Like it always does in these big games, it will come down to Mahomes. This will again be a tight game in the fourth quarter. Mahomes and the Chiefs offense will need a touchdown to win it.
Are you going to pick against him doing it?
I am not.
Mahomes will lead the Chiefs on a historic drive against the Eagles zone defense and the line will block up the front well enough to allow him to do it. He will hit Worthy for the game-winning score in the final minutes to pull off the three-peat, becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three straight Super Bowls.
At 29, Mahomes will be stamping himself as the GOAT of the quarterbacks — yes, ahead of Tom Brady. [CBS Sports]
The Athletic: Chiefs (24-20)
Both Vic Tafur and Mike Sando picked the Chiefs. Here's a look at why Sando is going red:
I’ve picked against Kansas City twice this season (both Buffalo games) and can make a good case for Philadelphia here, but I’ll ride with the Chiefs’ situational superiority. All of their key pieces — Andy Reid, Mahomes, Kelce, Chris Jones and Spagnuolo — seem to have the right answers at the key times. The Eagles’ red zone defense is strong and could be Philly’s key to winning as an underdog. Chiefs 24, Eagles 20. [The Athletic]
The Ringer: Chiefs
The Ringer polled its seven NFL writers and five of them picked the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl. One of the two holdouts, Sheil Kapadia, is famously a Philly guy. Here's why he went against the grain:
Does it feel good to pick against Mahomes? Of course not. But I think that the Eagles will be able to get off massive runs with Barkley, and their defense majors in not allowing explosive plays. This seems like it will be a tightly contested back-and-forth game that’s not decided until the fourth quarter—or later. I think that the Eagles offense will get the ball at the end, needing a few first downs to ice the game, and they’ll come through, never giving Mahomes a final chance to steal it. [The Ringer]
Final tally: Chiefs 84 "experts", Eagles 39 "experts" (68%)
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