Superbowl 59 is upon us!

Matt & Tom give a full, in-depth preview to this coming Sunday's Superbowl. Running through key match ups for the game, reasons why both teams can win, score predictions and the big question around whether Mahome's overtakes Brady as the GOAT with a win?

Transcript

Matt: 0:01

Welcome to TriplePlay UK, the UK's home of the NFL, NHL and MLB. Hello and welcome to Triple Play UK. I'm as ever your host Matt along with my co host Tom. We have got a great show for you today. We are previewing Super Bowl 59 over at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday. It's going to be a repeat of Super Bowl 57 where the Chiefs won 38 35 the Eagles. Tom. I'm really looking forward to this game, mate. It's been an epic season as ever. How are you feeling?

Tom: 0:42

Oh mate, I'm, I'm excited. I'm really excited. I think, I think obviously it helps when your team's playing in it. I think as a Jets fan, you've probably forgotten what that feels like. But, but no, it's oh, mate, I'm just excited. I think last matchup that these two played was such a good game. I think, what did it finish like? 38 35 to the Chiefs. I'm hoping it's the other way around this year and we can pick the win up. But I just think just in general, though, I just think it's gonna be a great game. I don't know what you're doing for it. I think we've got quite a lot of family and friends. We're all going to watch it. We've picked up some, like, American beers. We're getting some hot dogs in snacks and just, yeah, just gonna make it a Super Bowl party. You doing anything for it, Matty?

Matt: 1:31

Yes, we've got a little tradition in our house. The wife joins me, we sit, we snack. I don't drink, I'm boring, so I just sit and I eat. We watch the game, she sits and asks me loads of questions. But to be fair, it's really enjoyable. I enjoy it. It's a little tradition, so I'm really looking forward to it. I mean, I've watched the last couple of Chiefs Super Bowls, and I really do rate them. As you know, I'm anticipating a very, very good, very close game. And I know we're mates, but I think it would please me a lot to make you eat your words on Tom's take, to be honest, mate.

Tom: 2:03

Yeah, no, I don't blame you. I don't blame you. I think you wanna try and get me, get me wrong for that first one, which is fair enough. I think a few View of the listeners wrote in saying that I'm going to eat my words. So yeah, we'll see. We'll see. So far, I've not been wrong, but no, it's gonna be a great game. Like we said, even just from a neutral point of view, I know KC only scored three points for the time kind of last week against the Bills but look, I think if both offenses can play at their best, again, we could be in for a really high scoring game, so. It should be a good matchup, nonetheless, whether it's whether it's high scoring or not. I'm looking forward to it, mate.

Matt: 2:40

I think we're going to do a little bit of a back and forth, aren't we? Um, I'm going to kind of tell you why I think the Chiefs are going to win, and you're going to come straight back at me and tell me why you think the Eagles are going to win it. So, I think there's going to be some really interesting matchup all across the field. I'm going to start off by saying I think one of the big difference makers in this game is going to be the ex Eagles coach, Andy Reid. He's found something in the Chiefs. They have pretty much been unstoppable in the last sort of seven, six, five years. I think to be honest, he's got a really good opportunity to become one of the best coaches in the NFL of all time. He could become a four time Vince Lombardi trophy winner on Sunday, two behind Bill Belichick. Um, at that point, in terms of long term goals for him, he's So he's mid 60s. I think he's only 46 wins behind Don Schuler in the all time list. Um, he could become, by 2029, the greatest. Coach in NFL history. I think he's going to be the difference maker on Sunday But then when you throw Patrick Mahomes into that mix, he's got an opportunity To push him closer to greatest of all time status He's on the path to be better than Brady was when you compare them to age Mahomes wins this on Sunday. He will have four Vince Lombardi trophies Before the age of 30. It's never been done before. I think brady was 34 when he won his fourth Um, so history is kind of on his side in terms of performance We've said it over the last couple of weeks. Mahomes keeps finding a way to win And i've looked at a lot of stats over the last week or so And as crazy as this sounds the chiefs should not be there based on all the stats They're underperforming in pretty much every area compared to the eagles, um, individual players as well by, by my home standards. He's underperformed year on year. So this year on passing yards, 3, 928. Two years ago, 5, 250. That's a dip of 1, 300 over two seasons and he still dragged them to a super bowl. Um, He seems to be able to find space and find the pass when he's in the pocket, under pressure. He still makes plays. Looking at his movement, I don't even think Brady had that kind of movement. Um, I think Mahomes is going to surpass every record in the book. The guy seems to find a way to win. Um, he's not using certain players as much as he used to. So he's not using Kelce as much as he did last season. You've got Kareem Hunt, who's in his first season with the Chiefs. You've got DeAndre Hopkins, who's also in his first season with the Chiefs. He's gone to those two guys a little bit more. Um, but in terms of Kelce and Hopkins combined, they've only got 14 touchdowns between them. Which is a crazy stat when you think about being in a Superbowl. Um, so, the Eagles obviously have one of the best defences. The Chiefs don't have one of the best offences. So I think it's going to be an interesting matchup because you've got a guy that always seems to be able to find a win And then you've got a team that can stop offence I think one of the key areas is going to be the whole Chiefs defence finding a way to stop Saquon Barkley If they do that the 3p is definitely on There's been a lot in the media, um, in the last couple of weeks about the referees being in favour of the Chiefs. So, I've got a question for you. Obviously, given, given obviously the bits on Mahomes, he's currently already number two by the way on the all time record for playoff victories with 17, second behind, Tom Brady. Mahomes is 29. Brady played till he was in his 40s. So if he keeps going for another 11 to 12 years, do you think he could be better than Tom Brady? How does he compare for you?

Tom: 7:16

In terms of playstyle, or just in terms of where you're ranking him,

Matt: 7:20

yeah, I mean, obviously, Brady, to a lot of people, is the GOAT. You know, he's got a lot more Super Bowl rings than anyone else.

Tom: 7:28

he's my goat.

Matt: 7:30

Okay, so, do you think Patrick Mahomes is better or will be? a better player than Brady

Tom: 7:42

That's a tough question, Matty. I'll answer it like this. Is he better than Tom Brady? No, he's not. Not right now. Reason why he's not better than Tom Brady right now is because Tom Brady's won the most. He's the most he win. He's won the most Super Bowls. Now, yes, like you said, there is an age factor in it, but I then also look at the age factor and thought Patrick Mahomes is doing it now while he's young and he's got his legs and he's got his health. Tom Brady did it into his late 30s and 40s. He left. Everyone said it was a Bill Belichick and it was a system thing. He left, went to the Bucks, beat Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl in his 40s. So I still think Patrick Mahomes has got a lot of work to do to catch up with. Tom Brady. There was a stat that I saw the other day and now anyone who knows basketball knows that Steph Curry is the best three point shooter of all time. I think, I think I saw a stat he makes three points, three point shots, I think every, it's like 40 percent of the time, which I think is unheard of. But over Tom Brady's career, Tom Brady is more likely, I think 42%, to make a Super Bowl in terms of the amount of Super Bowls he's appeared in and seasons played than Steph Curry is to make a three point shot in basketball. Now, that was one of the craziest stats I've ever heard. Now, Patrick Mahomes, in all fairness to him, you asked me the question, can he be better than him? Yes, he can, because of what he's already done in the game, like you said before, 30. So, can he be better than him? 100%. I think if Patrick Mahomes gets the three peat, that's already a tick in the checklist for something that Brady didn't do and winning it for the fourth time before he's 30, again, something Brady didn't do. So yes, there's a lot of things that are going for Mahomes that I think could put him and project him on that kind of upper echelon into the Brady status. I mean, to be fair, I say upper echelon, he is right up there with some of the best already just with what he's achieved. And I think if he carries on, whether it's with the Chiefs or Whether he moves elsewhere and goes and wins elsewhere. I think he's definitely on the way to do it right now. No, not for me. I think Tom Brady's the best ever, and will continue to be the best ever until Patrick Mahomes wins seven, eight, nine Super Bowls, which, like we said, there's no reason why he can't. He's, I mean, what is he? He's well on his way to winning potentially, potentially another one. So yeah, it's, yeah, it's definitely a chance. But I think, I think at the moment for me, no, Brady's the GOAT.

Matt: 10:14

It's a great debate, isn't it, mate? I think the good thing about this is that this sort of debate will wade on for a while. Um, and it's why we love the sport. This sort of stuff gets thrown out there all the time.

10:28

Back to Sunday then, um, one of the key match ups is going to be the Chiefs defence versus not only the entire Eagles offence but Saquon Barkley. I think for the three peat to be on, and I think it is, then they have to find a way of stopping Barkley. He is the danger man. So, in my eyes, stop Barkley, stop the run, Chiefs win. Another key area and I think it's not necessarily a matchup, but it's the kicking game. So The chiefs have a high conversion rate. I think it's around 90 89 90 percent somewhere like that The Eagles are down at 79 percent conversion rate for field goals You know a field goal could could turn this game could win this game. And I think again, it's a really key area There's so many close battles across this across this field. It's going to be an unreal game mate

Tom: 11:36

Yeah, I think you kind of touched on it there. I think you mentioned a couple of the key matchups, which I think we were having a little look at, weren't we? I think, well, the first one, obviously, that did stand out is obviously. How do the Chiefs stop Saquon Barkley? Now, I was having a little look at, I think, the last time the guys played in the Super Bowl, I think the problem for the Eagles was they relied, they, they used the run game well but they relied too heavily on Jalen Hurts, you, doing the run game himself, and, which is fine, but I think where the Eagles have kind of taken that step forward this year is Hurts has run the ball well, but when you've got Saquon Barkley in the backfield, who is your main guy to hand the ball off to, then people are focused on stopping him. So Hurts kind of goes under the radar, but they relied on him a little bit too heavily last time. 70 yards in the last Super Bowl that these two played against each other, but I think having Barkley in that backfield just gives them that. little bit of a difference maker. He's the best running back in the league, especially this season. But I think when I look at the matchup, KC actually have the third best run defense in the league in terms of sort of yards per rush allowed. I think they only allowed 3. 8 yards per rush. Now obviously the difference is Saquon obviously has taken his level up to a different echelon in the playoffs. He was brilliant in the regular season, but He's actually averaging 6. 7 yards per carry and has already rushed for 442 yards in the playoffs already. So you've got one of the better run defenses going up against the best running back in the league. Just give you a couple of stats to kind of look at this as well. So when we look at Saquon Barkley, so he's season averaged yards per carry was about 5. 84 averaged about 125 yards per game. Interestingly, when he's played against teams that you'd consider that also have a good run defense, not including kc. So against Green Bay, rushed for 109 averaged about 4.96. Obviously Tampa Bay rushed for 84. I mean the, the yards per game kind of jumped up because there wasn't as many carries in that, but 8.4. against Cleveland. Really good rush defense at Cleveland. Only rushed for 47 yards, about 2. 6 per carry. Against and again against Green Bay rushed for 119, but only 4. 76 per carry. I think the only one where it really kind of went off was against Baltimore, where he rushed for 107. And he didn't have many carries in this one. So he was averaging about 9. 83. But when you kind of look at it as a whole in terms of his yards per carry against those teams with a good rush defense, it does slightly start to drop below average. Now, is that a concern for the Eagles? I think if I'm KC, I'm looking at that and going, we could potentially shut them down. Only thing I would say is, like I said, where Saquon's kind of upped his game in the playoffs this year. Like I said, his season average was 5. 84. Now, obviously, it's a smaller sample size because he's only played three games in the playoffs, but He's knocked that up, like I said, to 6. 7 yards per carry. So you've got the man who was the best in the business at running the ball this season, taking his game to another level, which we didn't think it could get to. So I think that's a really, really key match up there. And I think potentially I think that that could be one of the big deciding factors as to who. Kind of comes out on top. I mean, what were your kind of thoughts on that? Where do you think that that lies?

Matt: 15:15

Yeah, I think the difficulty that the Chiefs are going to have is stopping Barker. It's how they do it, and I'm not sure how they do it. He's been phenomenal this year. He's been very consistent. Since he joined the Eagles, he's really stepped up his game, I think. Um, like I said, if the Chiefs can stop him, the Chiefs win. So I think you've got to look at whether or not Jalen Hurts is going to use him as much. Obviously this is going to be a very, very tactical game. So, do you stick to what you know best? Or do you try something new and hope that they've got extra man coverage on Barkley and then it opens up something else for you? So many questions, so many possibilities. Yeah, I think definitely he's the danger man and he's one that the Chiefs need to watch. Very, very interesting match up, mate.

Tom: 16:02

I think another one that I was kind of looking at and also just touching on what you said there, I think, like you said, if the Chiefs focus too much on Barkley, and I'll kind of touch on this a little bit when, because I think guys, what we'll do is, I think me and Matt, you're going to kind of have like a little head to head little three point of a why the Chiefs will win, why the Eagles will win. And I think one of the things I think gives the Eagles the advantage is like you said, that the Chiefs, if they pile up too much on Barkley, The Eagles offense is better through the air in terms of the options they've got. Devonta Smith and A. J. Brown are absolute animals in the wide receiver role. Will make superhuman plays. A. J. Brown, big, strong, get off me kind of wide receiver. Rushed, sorry, received over a thousand yards. 10 plus touchdowns on the season and Devonta Smith a little bit different, a little bit quicker, a little bit more agile will be able to make that play where you think how on earth has he brought that down? So I think that's that's something that again, where the chiefs will have to look at that because you focus too much on the run. And you leave those big playmakers. Dallas got it as well. Tight end for the Eagles. Could be a big player in this game. For them. Focus too much on him. And on those guys. On, on Barkley, sorry. Those guys are free. You don't focus on Barkley. You try and stop the passing game. And Sack on Barkley and Jalen Hurts are going to have a filled, filled day with the ball in their hand. And running the ball. So, I think that's a big one. I think one thing I kind of looked at for me, which I think is, I just don't think we can kind of go, through a Superbowl preview with the Chiefs involved without talking about Travis Kelce. And I think a big matchup that I kind of see sort of my end is Zach Bourne versus Travis Kelce. Now, I'm not saying this is where the game will be won and lost. You've probably got the Eagles best defender this year. He's up for Defensive Player of the Year. Against, I mean, like, like we kind of discussed last week, arguably the best tight end ever. Postseason wise, I mean, the guy's an absolute monster, Travis Kelce. Now, like I said, Braun's been excellent this year against teams who target their tight ends. Now, I know he didn't use him very much against the Bills. When, kind of looking at Zach Braun's numbers against teams who kind of target and have their, their main receiver is their tight end, which is what, in most postseason games, the Chiefs do with Kelce, and I think, Given that it's the Superbowl and I almost think there's almost that element of like there is an element of we need to put on a show for the fans So I think people want the ball thrown to Kelce because that's what they come to see a lot like kind of goes back to This whole like all the Chiefs and Taylor Swift and the celebrity aspects of it But whether that will kind of get played into they're gonna give him the ball because he's the go to guy. It's the Superbowl I know he hasn't used him as much this year like you touched on but This is the Super Bowl in a must win game. Who's your most reliable guy to throw the ball to? It's going to be Travis Kelce. Now, to give you an idea, Zack Bourne against teams that target their tight ends has a burn rate of 30 percent and only allows 9. 17 burn yards per game, which is excellent. Now, Kelce as well, with that in mind, going up against an extremely informed Zack Bourne, has had a bit of a down year. A bit of an up and down season. He was excellent against the Texans. In the postseason, little, obviously very quiet against the Bills and you kind of had some numbers on Kelce you were looking at, wasn't it, that you were sort of quite interested in? So yeah, what were you, what do you reckon on Kelce Bourne?

Matt: 19:40

Yeah, this one again is a really close matchup in terms of numbers. Kelce's only received the ball. I think three more times than he did last year. He's gained less yards and scored less touchdown. It's almost like he's not being utilized as much. But I think when you look at it, he's aging. He's sort of in tight end terms. He's 35 years of age. There's rumors that if the three p happens, he's going to retire at the end of this game. He's still in contract for another year. Yeah, definitely, if the three peat happens, he retires. Mahomes has also got other guys that he's going to more now. Obviously, we looked at the numbers earlier. So I don't think Kelce's necessarily the go to guy anymore. He does have big plays in him. So, it'll be interesting. I think the defence will be aware of that. Um, so, I think potentially, Kelce won't be utilised as much. I don't think he's the danger man.

Tom: 20:38

Yeah, I think, like you said there, I think they've used him a lot less. I think my, just my point on it and I think where I kind of look at it is I think, I just think you look at your guys who are your playmakers and who you trust the most and what has won them the last two Super Bowls. is Mahomes finds Kelce, and I think that's what they will go to. Again, I'm not saying they must necessarily use it as often as they will do, and I think the fact that Zach Bourne is in the backfield there for the Eagles is gonna make a bit of a difference because the fact that they will be nervous against targeting against that guy because of how good he's playing this year. But I also do think there is that element of Listen, we've been there, we've done it, and on the biggest stage, these two, time and time again, just seem to perform, and I think that's where they'll, they'll aim at. I'm not saying the whole game, and especially if it's not working, obviously, Mahomes has shown that he can use the ground game himself he can hand the ball off, or he can throw to those other guys. So yes, I think he'll look elsewhere if he needs to. But I do think his go to target with Kelce. And that's when I think that matchup will really become quite important as the game goes on now, we keep bringing him up. And I think it's before we kind of go into who's going to win it, why each team is going to win it. I think the last matchup, I think we got to look at is I just think it's the battle of the quarterbacks now, you know, Obviously they don't directly play against each other, they're not going to have an impact on each other's game necessarily, but Mahomes vs Hurts. Like, I think it's a, they're two brilliant quarterbacks now. Mahomes is obviously a better quarterback than Jalen Hurts. I love Jalen, but come on, I think the guy, he'd admit that himself. Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. Last time these two faced off though in the Super Bowl. We saw one of the great quarterback matchups for a Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts, I think he threw for 300 yards, rushed for 70, scored three touchdowns himself. Which was a, which tied a record at the time, and Mahomes threw for three touchdowns, 40 plus rush yards, and managed to find Kelce for 81 yards and had a, and again, just had an out of this world game and it was arguable, arguably, I mean, Mahomes come out and said it, after the Super Bowl, I mean, the winner, he said, don't let the result tonight, let people forget about that Jalen Hurt's performance, it was an all world performance, it didn't seem. arguably outplayed Patrick Mahomes in that game, maybe bar one quarter. So, you kind of look at it from that perspective, when they've matched up in the biggest game, Jalen Hurts has more than held his own. I think when it comes to that matchup, I don't know what you think I don't know what you think about it, but, when it kind of comes to that matchup, there's, from the previous, there's no reason why Hurts can't do it, and, It's just for me. It's a case of whether he'll be able to match up to my homes again if he can. I think the Eagles have got a good chance.

Matt: 23:44

Yeah, this matchup is probably the most exciting of all. Obviously they matched up two years ago and Jalen Hurts came very, very close to winning it. I think Mahomes obviously found that extra level, didn't he? I don't think this game is going to be as high scoring as the last, but I do think it will be a lot closer and a lot tighter. Head to head, I think that Mahomes is finding a way to get it done. Hurts is obviously getting the experience, they've had four years consistently, um, getting into postseason, obviously they had the experience two years ago, but I still think that Mahomes is a far superior quarterback, um, and I just think that he'll find a way to get it done again on Sunday. I have a question for you in terms of what I think could be a difference maker, and it might be something a little bit controversial. But looking at the media and things that we've kind of like discussed over the past couple of weeks, um, we touched on quite a bit last week. I think referees could potentially be under a spotlight or the microscope on Sunday. There's quite a bit in the media about referees favouring the Chiefs. Favouring Mahomes. There's been quite a lot of noise about, um, Mahomes flopping. Um, and the Chiefs getting special treatment because they're bringing a lot of money to the game because of the Taylor Swift Travis Kelsey angle. Um, obviously it's quite interesting. Do you think that this noise could potentially affect refereeing decisions on Sunday? And do you think that they could potentially have a say on the outcome of this game?

Tom: 25:27

Yeah, I think referees always have a have a say in the outcome. I think that's the case with any sport though. I think even if you take away all the other kind of noise from it, I think regardless of the sport that you watch referees. The human beings, they're going to make mistakes at times. They're going to get things right. They're going to get things wrong. Unfortunately, it's the biggest stage of all. And you just hope, I think it's one of those things where you just hope the game doesn't come down to a controversial call or a questionable call that ends up being the difference. Now, I know, obviously, like you said, and I think based on what you're kind of saying with it being a tight game, I think that does play into, potentially play into the hands that, There is going to be something that may potentially be decided by a referee. Referee's decision. We saw it a few years ago when these two played and I touched on it last week. Now I'm not one of these kind of fans who's going to sit there and be like, the referee costs us the game, but. The controversial call on third, on third down or fourth down where they gave it, they flagged for a really soft it was either holding or pass interference going into the end zone, broke up the play, which would have given the Eagles possession back, or at least would have made Casey kick for a field goal, or at least try and kick for a field goal ended up being the deciding factor. Now, That was a fairly controversial call. I'm not gonna sit there and throw a, throw a toys at the bra and say we only lost because of that. But it was a big decision at the time of the game that has ended up going on to give Casey the points they needed to win the game. So I hope something like that doesn't happen with regards to like the stuff around the, the media attention on it. I don't think that really makes a difference because these things have been circulating for a long time now. Everyone's going to have a different opinion on it. Thief's fans, or even if you're not Thief's fans, some people are going to say, get over yourself, they're winning because they're the best team. Other fans who have maybe suffered controversial calls are going to have a different opinion on it. Everyone's opinion on it is different. But these things, this unfortunately comes with success as well. The team that's winning, people don't like success, successful teams if it's not your own. So I think Everyone's always going to kind of come up with a A story or a sub or like, you know what I mean? Like a different kind of like that subcontext of a, Oh, well, they're only winning because the referees are giving them the decisions and so on and so forth. Like this has been happening since the Chiefs have been successful. So I don't think necessarily all the story lines around it and the scrutiny they've come under is anything new because they've been under scrutiny since forever. And I think this whole thing with the Chiefs is no different to the whole. Oh, the Patriots deflate the footballs and so on and so forth and Bill Belichick pays the league or all of that sort of stuff like it's it, you know, I mean, like there's, there's always going to be something that means that a team hasn't won fairly or there's been an advantage given to them. I don't really buy into it too much. I mean, I hope not. Anyway, I think it will be a game that is decided by the quality on the pitch. But like I said, unfortunately, it's a game that has to have referees and referees and human beings. So. There is potentially going to be a controversial call, and I just, like I said, on either side of it, because I think even as an Eagles fan, I don't necessarily want to win the game because of a controversial call. Will I care at the time? No, I'll be jumping up and down for joy and I'll be partying through the night, but I don't necessarily want to win the game and look back on it and all you see the next day is Eagles win, but marred with controversy and I'm sure the Chiefs fans at the same time would probably also like to win a game or win a Super Bowl where the storyline isn't, well, the refs gave you the game, it, well, it was Eagles versus the refs, it's Bills versus the refs, it's, you know what I mean, so, yeah, I think, yeah, I think there's always the chance, but, no, I think, I think we've just got to hope the referees don't have too much of an influence over the result of this one,

Matt: 29:39

fingers crossed, and just so you're aware mate, Deflategate was a real thing, and as a Jets fan it upset me immensely. I'm still not over it now. So yeah, please, please don't bring it up again. Are you gonna be watching the, uh, halftime show?

Tom: 29:56

yeah, I'll be, I think I'll be watching, like I said, we kind of make a little party of it I mean, my younger self is quite excited to see Kendrick Lamar. I think, like, young teenage Tom who used to walk around with his headphones in listening to Kendrick Lamar thinking he was cool is excited for it. He's a good performer though, isn't he? I mean, he's, he's one, he's one of the best, like, at what he does. So, if you were to put on a show, it's usually very good. I wasn't actually that much of a fan of Arshia's performance last year. I thought it was a little bit corny. So hopefully, hopefully this one's hopefully this one's a little bit better, but now yourself, you're going to watch it or are you, are you like turn the channel catch them sleep for half an hour before.

Matt: 30:37

The, uh, the wife will be sitting with me, mate. There's no chance of any sleep. She's gonna be asking me questions throughout the whole game and probably throughout the halftime show as well. But yeah, I, uh, I will be watching it. I usually watch the whole thing anyway. Um, and to be honest, I'll probably be messaging you through it as well. I mean, I didn't, I haven't overtly enjoyed the halftime shows the last sort of couple of years, but I think it's down to like music preference more than anything. Um, I mean, to be fair, it's not really the spectacle it used to be, if I'm being brutally honest.

Tom: 31:10

Yeah.

Matt: 31:10

think when I got into the NFL, so 20, 20 odd years ago, the halftime show was like a huge thing, but I don't know, I don't know whether or not it's lost its magic, so to speak, but I think either way I think it's still going to be a great show being put on by Kendrick Lamar.

Tom: 31:28

No, I agree.

Matt: 31:32

Let's go into your three reasons then why for you the Eagles are going to be Super Bowl champions by the end of Sunday evening slash Monday morning and then I'll give you my thoughts.

Tom: 31:45

We touched on a couple of them already. But I think the first one and I think the most important one it factor number one for the Eagles is Saquon Barkley and the offensive line for the Eagles are going to will allow him to dominate on the ground like he has all season long. I think Saquon Barkley is going to not only break the single season record for rushing yards in, in this game, but I think by doing so, he's also going to break a Super Bowl record for rushing yards as well. So I think the first reason the Eagles win is Saquon Barkley in the offensive line, and I say the offensive line with that because Saquon, as unreal as he's been, can't do what he's done this year without the best offensive line in football. Now, if the Chiefs can stop that offensive line, limit the effectiveness they have, they've got a chance. But I just, we say that every game with the Eagles, that's what everyone always says. Oh, you stop the offensive line and Barkley doesn't do what he does, or Hurts can't throw for X amount of yards. But no one's able to do it. So that's number one, Saquon on the offensive line. The second reason why the Eagles win this game is the Chiefs don't defend tight ends very well and Dallas Goddard, for the Eagles so far in the playoffs, has been on fire. He actually leads the Eagles, despite the fact the Eagles have got AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. I'm pretty sure he leads us. in receiving yards. So, so far this postseason. So, he's he's not only is he is he having a good president but he's actually outperforming some of those star guys. For for us. So, he's actually he's 188 yards, one touchdown. So far, he's caught the ball 15 times. So, he gets the ball thrown to him more than Devonta Smith and AJ Brown has this year. And he's been targeted the most times tied with AJ Brown for 18. And like I said, the, the chiefs haven't defended tight ends very well this year. Our Dallas got up being kind of in the form that he's in. He's a low key, he's a beast, absolute animal when he receives the ball. So yeah, he's I think that's a big factor in the game that I think we, a lot of people won't pick up on because it isn't a star name, but watch out for Dallas Goddard to have a big, big game against the Chiefs on Sunday. And I think my final point of why we are going to win the Super Bowl. I'm going to go back to the first episode that we did on here, and I said it. What wins championships? Offense wins you games, but Matty, what wins you championships? Defense wins you championships. They have the best defense in the league across the field. Jalen Carter is a beast. He's on fire. Zach Bourne is up for Defensive Player of the Year. Quinion Mitchell, Cooper Dejean are up for Defensive Rookies of the Year. Quinion Mitchell, by the way, When he didn't play against them, the only game the Eagles haven't looked Of correlation to that? Quinion Mitchell went off injured in the first quarter of the game, By the Rams because it was the backup, it was the backup guy there. So said, Jalen Carter's a beast. Zach Bourne's a beast. The whole defense has been on fire this year. I'm going Jalen Carter's getting two plus sacks in this game. He's coming for my homes. He's taking him down. Gwenyon Mitchell's gonna have an interception. And that defense, along with the receiving powers of Dallas Goddard and the best running back in the league and which will be, come the end of the game, the best running back season of all time, tapped off with a championship, Saquon Barkley. Those are the things that are going to win the Eagles the Super Bowl this year.

Matt: 35:46

I disagree entirely, and now I'm going to tell you why I think the Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl on Sunday. Like I've said before, I've touched upon a couple of these points, but I'm just going to go straight into my number one reason. History. The three peat. Never been done before. The Chiefs are going after something that the NFL has never seen before. I'd say history's probably on their side. You've got one of the league's best ever coaches in my opinion. You've got one of the best ever quarterbacks. And probably he will go on to be one of the greatest of all time. They've become a real force together. So I think history will be made. While we're talking about Mahomes as well, I think this guy's phenomenal. He keeps finding a way to win. He deals with pressure really well. He performs under pressure. He gets the pass off under pressure. Um, so I think the game's gonna be tight, but I think he will be the difference maker come Sunday. He's already beat the Eagles in a Super Bowl, and I think he's gonna do it again. And the final point for me is this will be a guy that comes up really big in this game. The guy's a wrecking machine, he's a disruptor. Chris Jones in the defense. Yes, he only has 37 tackles and 5 sacks this season. His numbers aren't phenomenal, but the guy steps up in big games. He's got power, strength, speed. Um, I think he's going to be a difference maker on Sunday I'm going to give a prediction now as well. I think it's going to be a close game like I said. The kicking game is probably going to play a major part. Uh, I'm going to go 29 27 Chiefs.

Tom: 37:41

Nice. I'm glad you I'm glad you jumped in with the score prediction there, mate, because I was coming to that next. Listen, I like your points. I can't really argue with any of them because at the end of the day, I think the big thing that the Chiefs do have in their favour. I think match up wise that we've talked about it. The fact that the quarterbacks this season match up well, but then you what what separates when they match up? Well, Kind of put man for man in terms of the season, what you separate them with is experience. Mahomes has been there and done it. Hurts has only been there once and he didn't win. So yeah, I think like, you look at the KC, you look at KC and I think what does give them that chance is the fact that they have just been there and done it and they've got the experience on their side. But look, hopefully that doesn't kind of pay off. And like I said, I think my, my kind of points for why the Eagles will win the game. I'm hoping as a very least that they are the reasons that do win us the game. But yeah, I think it's going to be a brilliant game. We we've touched on it a lot. It's such a good matchup. I know it's not the matchup people. As we sort of say, the football purists wanted to see because the Chiefs are not particularly popular. Eagles, because of our fan base, and I probably wasn't helped with some of the incidents that have gone on in the postseason already, are not particularly popular. So yeah, I know from that side of things. It wasn't the matchup that people wanted to see, but I think in terms of the football teams that are going to be playing in this game, it is the best matchup because I think you've got a team that's going for history versus this season, in my opinion, the best team in the league. And I'm not, I don't just say that with green tinted. Goals on I say that from a statistical point of view in terms of just being able to to watch the teams. I think they're There that it's the best matchup. I think it's the most it's going to be the best one to watch I'm going for a score prediction I was emailing a couple of guys who I know watch it at work and I was asking around. I'm going, we're going to score 35 points again. I think we're going to match what we did back a couple of years ago. I don't think Casey outscores us this time. I have to back my boys. So I'm going to go 35, 27 Eagles win. Just a quick one as well. Guys on the social, we was asking quite a few of you. We kind of did a little poll as to who you guys think will win. As it currently stands, as it currently stands your, the poll is looking like. It's a 50 50 split at the moment. There's a dead heat down the middle for for Eagles and Chiefs to win. So listen guys, still time to vote on that one. We want to see what you guys think the outcome will be. And if there's anything that will sway your decision, one thing I want you to know, last time one of my teams went into a final against the team looking to 3P. It was the Abs versus the Lightning in the Stanley Cup final. The abs came out on top. I'm not saying there's good omens there, guys, but I've been here before and I know what happened. So, just take that into consideration before you make, yeah, before you make your choices. Ha

Matt: 41:07

I'll tell you what, mate. The next show is going to be a painful one for you. If they lose, I am going to repeat, replay these clips of you bigging at the eagles. Tom's take from week one. I can't wait for you to eat your words, mate. So that is another one in the books. It's been a really enjoyable one, mate. I've enjoyed the back and forth. Cannot wait for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you enjoy your little get together and I can't wait to sit and enjoy my snacks and hopefully I'll be sending you some abuse along the way.

Tom: 41:41

ha ha ha! Yeah, no, we'll see. Either way, mate, I, listen, everyone listening yourself as well, look, enjoy the game, guys. Hopefully it is a good watch regardless. And yes, in regards to the next show, guys, if it is just Matty on his own, you'll, you'll know why. But no, yeah, it should be a great game, and I hope everyone enjoys it. Let's go, birds!

Matt: 42:04

Have a good week and I'll speak to you on Sunday. That does it for another episode of triple play UK. I've been your host, Matt, along with co host Tom. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to follow us on X and subscribe on whatever listing platform you're on. And we will catch you again next week. Cheers guys.