After an exciting early window of NFL action in Week 2, the biggest game of the day takes place in the afternoon. A Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) and Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) takes place at Arrowhead Stadium as the home team looks to take their revenge for February’s loss. Get your betting cards ready and settle in for the Sunday afternoon duel.
Here’s a Chiefs vs. Eagles prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for the 4:25 p.m. EST showdown.
Chiefs vs. Eagles prediction, preview
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs haven’t started a season 0-2 since 2014, but after losing to the Los Angeles Chargers (in Brazil) 27-21 last week, there’s a real possibility their 2025 campaign begins with a hole to dig themselves out of. Unfortunately, this team won’t be at full strength as wideouts Rashee Rice (suspension) and Xavier Worthy (shoulder) are both out, so it looks like Hollywood Brown steps in as the top receiver once again this week.
The Chiefs will have their work cut out for them operating shorthanded in this game, especially against the Eagles’ defense. While Kansas City played a solid game in Week 1 with 347 total yards of offense despite Worthy’s first-quarter exit, Philly ranks among the NFL’s elite units and just held the Dallas Cowboys to 188 passing yards. Kansas City’s run game was phased out while playing from behind last week, but managed just 98 yards on the ground and Patrick Mahomes was the leading rusher. The Eagles’ front seven will limit the ground attack’s effectiveness, so with a depleted receiver corps, the Chiefs might really struggle on Sunday. Last week, it felt like Mahomes made play after play to keep his team in the game. That’s a much more difficult proposition against an even better opponent.
Philadelphia Eagles
The matchup does seem much better for the Eagles, who won their season debut over Dallas 24-20 and seemed largely in control throughout the night. The final score didn’t pop and the offenses dragged to a halt for both teams in the second half, but an hour-long lightning delay may have played a role in throwing off the rhythm in that regard. Philadelphia retained almost all the talent from their Super Bowl roster while adding depth through the draft, and still shows all the makings of a real contender once more.
This team will undoubtedly prioritize the run game as they did last season with Saquon Barkley. In Week 1, the Eagles totaled 302 yards of offense with 158 on the ground as they ran the ball 38 times, with Jalen Hurts logging only 23 pass attempts. Hurts made an impact on the ground himself as always with 62 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he tossed an efficient game going 19-for-23 for 152 yards. The Cowboys played zone coverage on every one of Hurts’ dropbacks and Philly took advantage, but the biggest story aside from the win itself was the disappearance of A.J. Brown, who saw just one target all night which came in the fourth quarter. Now, Brown is a notorious man-coverage beater and may still be dealing with a hamstring injury suffered during training camp, but his performance in Week 2 is undoubtedly a storyline to watch.
Chiefs vs. Eagles pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Eagles enter as slim 1.5-point favorites with -125 odds to win on the Moneyline. The Chiefs are listed as +105 home underdogs to win outright with the game total set at 46.5 combined points.
Two bets stand out to me in this Super Bowl rematch. The under could easily hit given the pace Philadelphia plays with thanks to the emphasis they place on the ground game, plus the lack of standout offensive weapons for Kansas City may limit production for the home team. The Chiefs also tend to bottle up the run somewhat well and ranked top-10 in rush yards allowed per game last year, also limiting the Chargers to 90 yards on the ground last Friday. These factors set the table for a bit of an ugly affair with less scoring, though Barkley’s obviously an otherworldly talent and might simply refuse to be limited by the Kansas City front seven.
The other pick I like is Eagles -1.5. Why’s that? The line is way too slim considering the depth chart for the Chiefs on offense. Hollywood Brown is a fine wide receiver, but he earned one of the highest target shares among the entire league in Week 1 and that’s simply not a winning strategy when complemented by JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton as the next-best wideouts. Travis Kelce will still play a role too, but if Kansas City falls behind, it’ll be quite difficult to catch up. Plus, the Eagles could potentially blow this game open against the man-heavy Chiefs secondary if A.J. Brown is actually healthy and sees a healthy peppering of targets to make up for last week. Were the home team healthy, this could be a very fun affair. Unfortunately, it could easily become a Philly blowout.
