Watch Super Bowl LVII from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, live on Sky Sports NFL on Sunday; the AFC's Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles from the NFC (kick-off, 11.30pm), with live coverage under way from 10pm
Saturday 11 February 2023 11:07, UK
In the spirit of the traditional 'combined XI' ahead of marquee football match-ups, we've tasked Coach Jeff Reinebold with picking his combined XIs on both offense and defense from the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles squads ahead of Super Bowl LVII, live on Sky Sports NFL this Sunday...
Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
Let's start with the toughest choice of all of them. You've got two great young players here.
Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts, a third-year guy who is outstanding in the run-pass option game, is a different type of quarterback and has had an amazing year, but I have to give the edge to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Mahomes' ankle is healthy - he's had a week off - then this is a chance for him to solidify his place among the greatest of all time, joining the likes of Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman... guys that have won multiple Super Bowls. Tom Brady's record of seven is still a little out of reach, but it would help him on the road towards that.
Running back: Miles Sanders (Eagles)
There's a different kind of approach from the two teams. For the Chiefs, they've got Isaiah Pacheco, a seventh-round draft pick out of Rutgers, has added a physical, angry run style to their offense.
We saw in the AFC Championship game, when Kansas City's receivers got hurt and they needed to be able to run the football, he stepped up. It's really unusual for a rookie in that kind of environment to make such an impression on the game, but he really did.
The Eagles, on the other hand, they want to run the football by committee. They've got three guys, Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott who serve as almost interchangeable parts. They'll ride with the hot hand.
Two weeks ago, when they rushed for a load of yards against the New York Giants in the divisional round, Gainwell was the guy. But Sanders is the RB1 and has had a career year this year, rushing for 1,269. I like him and the Eagles' committee approach to win out in this game.
WR 1: AJ Brown (Eagles)
WR 2: DeVonta Smith (Eagles)
WR 3: JuJu Smith-Schuster (Chiefs)
The receiver position in this game is really interesting, but you've got to say the Eagles have the better and more healthy group.
DeVonta Smith has really shown through the playoffs just why he was drafted as high as he was - 10th in 2021 - and he makes for a really dynamic duo with AJ Brown, pairing a speed guy with a big strong unit in Brown.
For the Chiefs, going into the season, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling were coming in off the back of up and down years - Smith-Schuster had kind of worn his welcome out with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Valdes-Scantling was really inconsistent with the Green Bay Packers - but those guys have had a great time in Kansas City. I'd pick Smith-Schuster to be my number three at wideout.
Tight end: Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Both tight ends are really big receivers, in truth. Travis Kelce isn't getting paid to block, he is being paid to be Mahomes' go-to guy on offense, particularly in the redzone. He is going to be a Hall of Famer, and is one of the best pass-catching tight ends this league has ever seen.
That's no knock against Dallas Goedert, who has had a great year for the Eagles, but there's only one Travis Kelce.
Left tackle: Orlando Brown (Chiefs)
Right tackle: Lane Johnson (Eagles)
Guards: Landon Dickerson & Isaac Seumalo (both Eagles)
Center: Jason Kelce (Eagles)
This is where the game is won, truly. Up front in the trenches.
At left tackle, there's the very impressive Jordan Mailata for the Eagles and the wily veteran of Orlando Brown for Kansas City. Mailata is a great run-blocker, but he struggles sometimes in pass protection - and he'll have to step up on that front in this game - and so I'm going to give the edge to Brown and the Chiefs.
But then you go to right tackle, you've got to go with Lane Johnson for the Eagles over Andrew Wylie, with Johnson having not given up a sack all year long.
With the the two guard positions, I'm going to pick who I think work as the best tandem. They're very difficult to separate. At left guard, you've got Joe Thuney for the Chiefs, who is maybe the best left guard in football, but I'm then you've got Isaac Seumalo and Landon Dickerson for Philadelphia, who I just think work better as a partnership in creating lanes for the offense.
At center, it's another tough choice between Creed Humphrey at Kansas City and Jason Kelce from Philadelphia. Humphrey is a rising young player, a great talent, but Kelce is going to the Hall of Fame - I truly believe that - and so, based on his experience, I would give the nod to him.
Edge rushers: Haason Reddick (Eagles) & Frank Clark (Chiefs)
Inside rushers: Chris Jones (Chiefs) & Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
Let's divide the defensive line into interior guys and edge rushers.
On the interior, there is no better inside rusher than Chris Jones for Kansas City in the NFL right now - even more so than three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald at the Los Angeles Rams. The number of times that he's able to get to the quarterback is uncanny. He doesn't always sack them, but he'll at least hit them or make them move - he's a game-wrecker.
As for Philadelphia, they simply bring so many guys at you. They've got four stars at the two interior positions, and can bring on fresh bodies all of the time, Fletcher Cox being the standout.
On the edge, there's Haason Reddick for the Eagles, who has an unbelievable burst to the quarterback. We saw that last week when he knocked Brock Purdy out of the game for the San Francisco 49ers. He has six forced fumbles on the year and 18.5 sacks (including playoffs). There is no question that he is the guy that the Eagles need to wreck the game from the edge, particularly given Mahomes' ability to move around in the pocket so well.
Then you've got Frank Clark of Kansas City on the other side, who is an outstanding rusher in his own right. He also always brings his A-game in the playoffs.
Linebackers: Willie Gay & Nick Bolton (both Chiefs)
The linebacker position is an interesting one, because it is becoming a more and more undervalued position.
But I like the two inside linebackers for Kansas City, Willie Gay and Nick Bolton - both of them second-round draft choices, in 2020 and 2021, respectively. They're dynamic, young guys.
Bolton struggles a little at times in pass coverage, but he's an outstanding tackler - and he'll need to be against all of the run-pass option plays we'll see out of the Eagles on Sunday.
I give the Chiefs the edge at the linebacker position.
Safeties: Justin Reid & Juan Thornhill (both Chiefs)
Again, I think Kansas City have the advantage at the safety position. Some might take issue with that, but Justin Reid is big, has length and can handle a tight end like Dallas Goedert for the Eagles. Juan Thornhill, meanwhile, is another dynamic player.
The Eagles safeties are good players too. The rookie they have playing, Reed Blankenship - an undrafted guy - got a chance later in the season when a guy got hurt, but has stepped up and played at a pretty high level.
But, if you need a key tackle or a play on the ball, I don't think you can look past the Chiefs' pairing.
Cornerbacks: Darius Slay & James Bradberry (both Eagles)
Nickel: L'Jarius Sneed (Chiefs)
At corner, it's a different story. It's hard to find a combination of players in the NFL as good as Darius Slay and James Bradberry at that position.
Kansas City's corners are young. This is interesting; five of eight guys in the secondary that the Chiefs are going to dress in this game are all rookies. They're extremely talented; Trent McDuffie, their first-round draft pick this year, has come in and shown he is going to be a great player for a number of years, while L'Jarius Sneed of the Chiefs slots in at nickel corner in my team.
Special teams: Eagles
This is an interesting one, because going into the playoffs, Kansas City's special teams unit was ranked last in the league in what is called 'special teams efficiency'. But they played great last week in the AFC Championship game, it was a big reason they won that game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Eagles maybe don't make as many 'splash plays' as Kansas City are capable of, but they're very solid and, in this game, I think I'll just give the edge to Philadelphia - they're extremely sound.
Head coach: Andy Reid (Chiefs)
I want to talk about the totality of the coaching staffs, as that - in my opinion - is where Kansas City have the biggest edge, with the experience of their group.
Every single coordinator they have, led brilliantly by Andy Reid, have been here at the Super Bowl before, so they're battle-tested already - they've been there and won before. That is a huge advantage.
Until you've experienced it, you don't know what it's like. All of a sudden you're there and it's like, 'Oh my god, it's for real now'. And that can happen sometimes to coaches in championship football games.
Chiefs 11 - 11 Eagles
You couldn't make it up. We've got a perfectly even split of 11 each between the two teams, which just goes to show you how evenly matched these two teams truly are.
That becomes 12-12 when you add in special teams and coaching. The Eagles have the better of the split on offense, with seven players to the Chiefs' four, though one of them is quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while it is the Chiefs who finish up with the greater numbers on defense.
With these two loaded teams going head to head on Sunday, Super Bowl LVII should be a classic.
Watch Super Bowl LVII - Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles - live on Sky Sports NFL and Main Event from 10pm on Sunday
