Super Bowl LVII: Reporter Showdown

Sunday marks the NFL’s 57th Super Bowl, or Super Bowl LVII if you’re into roman numerals. The season finale will be held in Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, also known as the NFL’s retirement home. There are only two teams each year that get the great honor of playing in the Super Bowl, and this year, those two teams are the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Hayden: In the green corner, defending the NFC’s representative, we have a life-long Eagles fan who is just dying to see them bring home another Lombardi trophy. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Luke Jackson. Jackson grew up in Hudson, Wisconsin, and got his Eagles fandom from watching them lose to his idol, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX, where the Eagles started to develop an underdog narrative. Jackson once hit a deer with his car, and instead of looking at the damage on the car, he got out, hit the griddy on the deer and yelled “FLY EAGLES FLY,” while “flexing.” Good luck, sir. 

Luke: Representing the Chiefs (mostly Patrick Mahomes) is Hayden Lee. Lee loves everything about Mahomes. You can often see Lee watching (and dancing to) Mahomes’ brother Jackson’s viral TikTok dances. Lee also impersonates Mahomes’ “Kermit” style voice regularly. If you ever see or hear someone doing the Chiefs famous “Tomahawk Chop,” you can safely assume it is Lee. He dreams of the Lombardi Trophy being lifted by his Chiefs but is in for a rude awakening Sunday. 

Who is going to win the Super Bowl? Why?

Luke: The Eagles will win the Super Bowl because they have the dog in them. They have the better and more hungry team. Time and time again, the Eagles have been counted out and came up big. Every hater called them frauds, and look where they are now. In the Super Bowl, they are going to take home the Lombardi Trophy. Their defense allowed only one score in both playoff games versus the Giants and the 49ers and in both games they tallied over 30 points offensively. The dogs will never stop barking after this Super Bowl win. 

Hayden: The Chiefs will win the Super Bowl based on this one simple fact. They have Patrick Mahomes. He has the ability to keep them in every single game that they play, and has done so yet again this season on his way to, presumably, another league MVP. This season, Mahomes led the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and QBR, leading the Chiefs to the number one seed and the Super Bowl, EVEN AFTER SUFFERING A HIGH ANKLE SPRAIN in the middle of the game against the Jaguars. Even Rihanna said that he is the best quarterback ever. After the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, he will have his second Super Bowl MVP, while Eagles’ fans destroy their own city for no reason.

Eagles Offense Vs. Chiefs Defense:

Luke: People say defense wins championships. That may be true to some extent, but in the NFL, offensive lines guarantee the championship. Right tackle Lane Johnson and center Jason Kelce, are the core of this team and are insane at what they do. Travis Kelce may have the best hands for a tight end in the NFL, but have you ever wondered why he resorted to that? Because he could never outperform his brother Jason’s crazy ability to protect his QB. Jason hasn’t allowed one QB hit since week 12 of the 2020 season and has allowed one sack in the past two years. He’s done this all while teammate Johnson hasn’t given up a sack since Nov. 22 2020. That’s 1,800 snaps. They will put on a blocking clinic all while Jalen Hurts runs circles around a young, immature Chiefs defense. Miles Sanders will receive bigger gaps than the San Andreas Fault while bodybuilder AJ Brown will run through every scared Chiefs Cornerback.

Hayden: I can’t wait to watch Chiefs’ defensive tackle Chris Jones put Jason Kelce on his ass as he rocks Jalen Hurts’ world. You may be right that he hasn’t allowed a QB hit since 2020, but that’s about to change, my boy. The Eagles do have a great offense, I cannot deny that, but the Chiefs defense is no slouch. Players you have never heard of are going to make plays and drive Jalen Hurts crazy. Hurts’ inexperience will show, and he has not been great since he got hurt. I am not scared of Jalen Hurts this week Luke, not at all. Even Joe Burrow couldn’t escape the scrappy and underrated Chiefs defense, and I think we all know how perfect Burrow is. Point being, you are an idiot if you think the Eagles offense is going to pull this one off.

Chiefs Offense Vs. Eagles Defense:

Hayden: Obviously, their offense runs through Mahomes, but lately, there has been another star emerging in the backfield. Seventh-round rookie, Isiah Pacheco is literally better than “Pro Bowl running back Miles Sanders,” and it will be apparent when Pacheco rushes for 60+ yards and a touchdown against the Eagles’ “elite” defense. Also, who needs Tyreek Hill? The Chiefs have the best tight end in the NFL and the better of the Kelce Brothers, I don’t think I need to explain how good he has been. Not to mention, the Chiefs also had three offensive lineman selected to the Pro Bowl in Creed Humphrey, Joe Thuney, and Orlando Brown. Even though the Chiefs do not have a game-wrecker at receiver, they have solid options like Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling who can be relied upon if Kelce is double-teamed. 

Luke: If you tuned in for the NFC Championship game you should know one thing, Linebacker Hassan Reddick is crippling to opposing offenses. Mahomes is playing risky playing off of a high ankle sprain and he better trust in his offensive line heavily. One hit from Reddick and he may take out two quarterbacks this off season. Lee will be commenting on all of Jackson Mahomes heartbroken social media posts when Mahomes goes down and backup Chad Henne tries to save the day. He won’t because the Eagles have Darius Slay. Slay proves to be the best when it matters. He shut down the G.O.A.T Justin Jefferson and now he won’t allow one pass completion to come his way. Don’t be surprised when the Eagles only allow one score once again. 

Final Predictions:

Hayden: In a hard fought game, filled with action and scoring, the Chiefs will prevail to win their second Super Bowl in four years, and their third all time by a score of 34-28.

Luke: Expect the score to stay consistent throughout the Eagles postseason, more than 30 points allowing only one touchdown, 33-7 is the number to watch for. 

Regardless of who wins, Super Bowl LVII will be a game for the ages, and caps off yet another amazing NFL season. Also, Rihanna is performing at halftime so even if the game sucks, we still have something to look forward to right? Skol x2.

Write to Hayden Lee at Hayden.Lee@mysmsu.edu

Write to Luke Jackson at Luke.Jackson2@mnsu.edu