With Super Bowl LIX fast approaching, this is a good time to examine the roster positions for the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles and determine which side has the advantage.
It was tough to pick who had the edge at most positions, especially on the star-studded offensive lines. Sure, one team has Saquon Barkley and the other has Patrick Mahomes, giving us a few no-brainers. But sometimes depth was more important than star power.
Here’s how tough it was: The winner had a 5–4 advantage with the nine position groups we broke down.
Here are the results.
Quarterback
Notable players: Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes; Eagles’ Jalen Hurts
Mahomes has long been established as the best quarterback in the league, but what separates him from the rest—well besides the three Super Bowl titles—is how productive he is despite tough circumstances. He found a way to make it work when the two players (Wanya Morris, Kingsley Suamataia) vying for left tackle didn’t pan out and after the injuries to wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice. The product didn’t look appealing at times, but the Chiefs won 15 of their first 16 games amid difficult circumstances that would have crippled other teams.
Hurts didn’t have to deal with as many injuries on his offense this season, but we’ve seen in other years how much he’s capable of doing to win games for his team. Let’s not overlook Hurts’s playoff wins and his sensational Super Bowl performance two years ago to nearly beat the Chiefs.
Edge: Chiefs
Running back
Notable players: Eagles’ Saquon Barkley; Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco
Barkley is only the second player to advance to the Super Bowl after producing at least 2,000 rushing yards in the regular season—joining Broncos great Terrell Davis, who capped his memorable 1998 season by winning Super Bowl XXXIII. Barkley’s presence in the backfield will give the Eagles a major advantage vs. the Chiefs’ defense, which has the daunting task of containing the dynamic running back. Barkley attempting to break tackles against one of the best tackling teams of the past few seasons will be a thing of beauty come Super Bowl night.
Hunt maintained the starting role after Pacheco returned from a fractured fibula that sidelined him between Week 3 to 12. The Chiefs brought Hunt back to Kansas City after undrafted rookie Carson Steele failed to make the most of his opportunities following the injury to Pacheco. Hunt, 29, quickly won the starting job and saw an increase in carries throughout the season. Hunt played a pivotal role in helping the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game, recording 17 carries for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Edge: Eagles
Wide receiver
Notable players: Eagles’ A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith; Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown
The Eagles’ passing game had its struggles throughout the season, which wasn’t a problem with a stacked offensive line paving the way for Barkley in his 2,000-yard rushing season. But Brown and Smith stepped up when it mattered most, recording a combined 10 catches for 141 yards and one touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game. Not many receiving rooms have as much talent as the duo of Brown and Smith, and it doesn’t even matter that the Eagles can’t find a reliable No. 3 wideout.
After a dynamic Chiefs debut in Week 1, it took Worthy a few months to establish consistent chemistry with Mahomes, especially downfield. But everything changed after Brown returned from injury in December and took attention away from Worthy, the team’s 2024 first-round pick. Worthy had a clutch 85 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Bills in the AFC title game. Kansas City is lacking a legitimate No. 1 wideout, but makes up for it with depth that also includes JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeAndre Hopkins.
Edge: Eagles
Tight end
Notable players: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce; Eagles’ Dallas Goedert
This record alone signifies why Kelce is one of the greatest playmakers in NFL history: The Chiefs’ star tight end recorded his ninth career 100-yard receiving playoff game against the Houston Texans, breaking a tie with the legendary Jerry Rice. Kelce might be a step slower, but he continues to find ways to impact games, evident by his 117 receiving yards vs. the Texans in the divisional round.
Goedert has been a consistent playmaker for the Eagles since entering the league as a second-round pick in 2018. He even made many plays for Mahomes’s backup, Carson Wentz, the former starting quarterback for the Eagles. Goedert missed time this season due to injury, but was available for Hurts in the NFC title game, recording seven catches for 85 yards.
Edge: Chiefs
Offensive line
Notable players: Eagles’ Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson; Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey, Joe Thuney, Trey Smith
The Eagles’ offensive line is loaded with All-Pros and Pro Bowlers. Mailata finally received accolades for his stellar play, going from raw prospect out of rugby to a second-team All-Pro left tackle. Cam Jurgens quickly established himself as one of the best centers after leaving his guard position to fill the giant void left by the retired Jason Kelce. Johnson and Dickerson continue to dominate at right tackle and left guard, respectively. But there’s no weak link on this offensive line because of the surprise improvement from Mekhi Becton, who found his footing at right guard after failing as a 2020 first-round tackle of the New York Jets.
If we were rating solely the interior of the offensive line, then the Chiefs would get the advantage with the trio Humphrey, Thuney and Smith. But Thuney, one of the best guards in football, is now the Chiefs’ starting left tackle, a positional switch that might have saved the season for Kansas City. Also, Mike Caliendo deserves a ton of credit for filling the void at left guard to allow Thuney to help protect Mahomes’s blind side. Jawaan Taylor continues to be inconsistent, but he’s still a quality right tackle.
Edge: Eagles
Defensive line
Notable players: Chiefs’ Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, Charles Omenihu; Eagles’ Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith Jr., Josh Sweat
The Chiefs’ defensive line goes well beyond the dominant Jones. The unheralded group displayed its depth in Week 16 after sacking Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson five times and hitting him nine times with Jones on the sideline nursing a calf injury. It didn’t take long for Jones to regain his top form in the postseason, providing the necessary push to stop the Bills in multiple short-yardage situations.
It won’t take long for Carter to reach the elite status of best defensive tackle in the league, a title that has belonged to Jones the past two seasons. Carter wrecked the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive plans during the divisional round. But Carter isn’t the only first rounder from the 2023 draft that’s producing for Philly. Smith might be the team’s most improved player, emerging as the Eagles’ best edge rusher this postseason.
Edge: Chiefs
Inside linebacker
Notable players: Eagles’ Zack Baun; Chiefs’ Nick Bolton
Baun might be one of the best bargain signings in recent memory. He quickly turned a weak linebacker group into one of the best in the league, which probably not even Eagles GM Howie Roseman saw coming after signing Baun to a one-year, $3.5 million contract. Baun went from being a special teams player for the New Orleans Saints the past four seasons to a first-team All-Pro during his first season in Philadelphia. He even improved after the season-ending injury to Nakobe Dean, with Baun making a handful of clutch plays in the NFC postseason.
The Chiefs have a versatile group of linebackers with Bolton, Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal. They’re all quality tacklers with the ability to cover top playmakers. Tranquill and Bolton each recorded more than 90 tackles in the regular season.
Edge: Eagles
Secondary
Notable players: Eagles’ Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, C.J. Gardner-Johnson; Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Justin Reid
Offseason additions Mitchell, DeJean and Gardner-Johnson, who had a brief one-year stint in Detroit before returning to Philadelphia, flourished under Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme and turned the Eagles into the best secondary in the league. Somehow Mitchell was available for the taking with pick No. 22 in the 2024 draft and DeJean fell to the second round, giving the Eagles another steal for what became an impactful draft.
The Chiefs’ secondary struggled after the injury to Watson, who missed the final 11 games of the regular season. But Kansas City at least knew it could rely on McDuffie, who didn’t miss a beat going from the slot to being the team’s No. 1 outside cornerback. With Watson healthy, the Chiefs are well equipped to go against the duo of Brown and Smith in the Super Bowl.
Edge: Eagles
Specialists
Notable players: Chiefs’ Harrison Butker; Eagles’ Jake Elliott
The Chiefs often find ways to win one-score games partly because of the clutch leg of Butker, who drilled a 57-yard field goal last February for a Super Bowl record. Kansas City could also have an advantage in the return game after the emergence of 2023 undrafted free agent Nikko Remigio, who opened the playoff game against the Texans with a 63-yard kickoff return. Remigio also had a 44-yard punt return vs. Buffalo.
Elliott has had a shaky season for the Eagles, but he has plenty of postseason experience. He’s made all five of his field goal attempts in two Super Bowl games.
Edge: Chiefs
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chiefs–Eagles Super Bowl LIX Matchups: Who Has the Edge at Every Position.