Fucking-A man, it’s America’s National Gambling Day. Let’s win some money.
Eagles +1.5 vs. Chiefs – I think the Bills got screwed by that 4th-and-short ball placement in the AFC Championship. But the Bills screwed themselves by letting the Chiefs stay that close. The Chiefs aren’t dominating but they just don’t make mistakes. It’s remarkable. If the game is within one score and Mahomes get the ball with time on the clock, they’re almost certainly going to win. Jalen Hurts doesn’t install that sort of confidence.
I expect a good football game. This is a statement of the obvious but the Chiefs and Eagles are both very good teams (and both very well-run franchises). There’s a strong case to be made that these are the two best teams in the NFL this season. And without question they’re two of the top four (I’d add the Bills and Ravens). What’s similar about both the Chiefs and Eagles is that both teams are full of surprises and tricks – they often do things no one would expect. But even more often, they do exactly what everyone expects them to do, the most predictable thing possible, and it just can’t be stopped even when the other team knows it’s coming.
Along those lines, all the Eagles need to do, I think, is the obvious thing: feed Saquon Barkley the ball. Give him the ball early. Give it to him on first down. Give it to him on third down. Give it to him deep in Eagles territory. Give it to him in the red zone. Make the Chiefs stop him. There’s a good chance they can’t. The man is a beast and the way he’s run all season long has been a revelation. No running back has been named Super Bowl MVP since Terrell Davis of the Broncos in Super Bowl 32, in the 1997 season. But Barkley and the Eagles’ offense have been playing like a ‘90s throwback team all season.
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Regular season final record: 80-80-4
Wildcard round: 4-6
Divisional round: 3-3-1
Conference championships: 0-9, yowza
