Nat Coombs' Super Bowl LIX Tips For Chiefs @ Eagles
Nat Coombs is an NFL writer and broadcaster who has been anchoring TV and radio coverage in the UK for over 15 years, working with a range of networks including BBC, TalkSPORT, FIVE, ESPN and Channel 4.
He writes a column for The Times and also hosts his own NFL podcast - The Nat Coombs Show, which was nominated for the best American Football podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards.
Nat has joined The Panel to share his four best tips for the weekend’s Super Bowl using the best prices from the leading NFL betting sites.
On Sunday night, be sure to tune in to Nat, who will be presenting TalkSPORT's coverage of the big game.
Nat's Super Bowl LIX treble pays out at 17/4 on Betway.
Nat Coombs' Super Bowl LIX Predictions:
Eagles @ Chiefs Prediction: Chiefs Finally Lose A Close Game
Super Bowl LIX, sees the Philadelphia Eagles, the most talented roster in the NFL, square off against the back-to-back champions Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs are looking to achieve the 'threepeat' - something no other team in the modern NFL has managed.
It’s no surprise that the line has been tight all week long, with mild fluctuation, but no fundamental shift.
The Chiefs, have demonstrated this season a level of clutch to be admired, taking close game after close game.
In all three of the Patrick Mahomes/Andy Reid Lombardi Trophy wins of the last five years, they’ve held their nerve in a close-knit game.
For most of the NFL, the fact they’ve not been in fifth gear, offensively anyway for much of the season, but find themselves at the Big Show once again, is terrifying.
Nat Coombs' Panel Pick 1: Eagles +1.5 To Beat The Chiefs - 10/11 With Betway
Eagles @ Chiefs Tip: Hurts To Join Elite QBs
But Philadelphia are not most NFL teams.
Despite the history-making potential of Kansas City, the Eagles are projecting as a team of destiny, given their chance for redemption.
Much of the playing and coaching staff that will line up in New Orleans on Sunday was on the wrong end of a defeat to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
A dysfunction narrative has dogged them for much of this season, despite their undoubted quality and undeniable success.
Their quarterback Jalen Hurts is a significantly-underestimated player, who has been in the eye of the storm.
He has faced criticism targeting his regression, with a stock that is falling from the height of his last (and first) Super Bowl appearance.
He is routinely left off most top-tier quarterback lists, of which his counterpart Mahomes typically features and often tops.
To the casual observer the criticism may have some validity because the Eagles' passing attack has struggled at times this season.
In many ways, despite this, Hurts has developed into a more rounded player than he was a few years ago with improved accuracy and a more effective approach against the blitz.
He has a deep-threat bomb in his locker, dual threat capabilities, but most of all in a game of this magnitude, plenty of moxie.
Nat Coombs' Panel Pick 2: Jalen Hurts Anytime Touchdown Scorer - 5/7 With Betway
Eagles @ Chiefs Preview: JuJu To Play His Part
Mahomes, despite his continued poise and undoubted capabilities, has had an understated season by his standards.
Indexed to the morphing of this Andy Reid offense, one that is far less explosive than a few years ago, more of a measured, dink and dunk, stealthy passing game.
There is more strength in depth in his receiving corps than that of Hurts and the Eagles, but he doesn’t have the X-Factor threats of Philly’s AJ Brown or DeVonta Smith.
With his peak years firmly behind him, Travis Kelce has had his minutes managed during the regular season and he is still capable of a major contribution (seven receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown against the Texans).
Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown also have big-play ability. An interesting look may be to take one of the vastly experienced, reliable receivers in this Chiefs offense via committee.
It's more likely to be JuJu Smith-Schuster and possibly DeAndre Hopkins to haul in a few key targets with total yard lines for each markedly low.
But there’s no-one in the Mahomes' arsenal as powerful and effective as Saquon Barkley. The former New York Giant is posting a season for the ages, arguably the greatest ever by a running back.
His propensity to break off explosive runs and the versality of the Eagles' ground game, underpinned by one of the best offensive lines in the league and the dual threat posed by Hurts with designed runs, allows offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to lead with the run more than any other team in the NFL.
The odds on Barkley being an anytime touchdown scorer on NFL betting sites are prohibitively short in isolation, but could be paired as part of a double.
The seemingly unstoppable Tush Push – the goal-to-go Eagles tidal wave of lineman jamming their quarterback over - makes the Hurts anytime TD more appealing as a single.
Defensively, two of the best individual players in the game – Chris Jones (Chiefs) and Jalen Carter (Eagles) – are worth a look for longshot MVP action. A defensive MVP has been crowned five of the last 20 Super Bowls.
How each respective offensive line deals with the respective threat of Jones and Carter is going to be key.
In the case of Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs' vastly-experienced defensive coordinator, the decision on how often to blitz – something he loves bringing – could prove pivotal given the many ways the Eagles offense can gash.
Opinions are divided on the presence of the Chiefs at the Super Bowl once again. Many are bored, tired of the domination, yearning for a fresh look.
How time flies, as I was lucky enough to witness the brilliance of a fresh-faced Mahomes back in Miami in 2020, when they were everyone’s darlings.
The pro-KC camp revel in the greatness, thinking of the Jordan-era Bulls, or the Brady-era Patriots and it takes a brave person to back against the clinical nature of the Chiefs.
The Chiefs have demonstrated time and again in the Reid/Mahomes era, that they can dial up something game-changing in a tense, nervy, close affair.
But this time, the fight in Hurts, who I think can unlock some of his big threats, supported by Barkley will prove to be difference. It’s the Eagles time to shine, and I think they take the opportunity.
Nat Coombs' Panel Pick 3: JuJu Smith-Schuster Over 20 Receiving Yards - 23/20 With Betway
Other Super Bowl Bets To Consider:
In the previous three Super Bowls, both the winning and losing teams have scored 20 points or more. The Eagles have scored 20+ points in each of their last 16 games, while the Chiefs have posted 20 points or more in five of their last six. Two years ago, when these two sides met in the Super Bowl, they both scored 30+ points
Both teams to score 20+ points - 5/6 With Betway
Both teams to score 30+ points - 6/1 With Betway
When these two sides contested Super Bowl LVII two years ago, Jalen Hurts recorded the only ‘Octupus' in the big game. Hurts scored on a two-yard touchdown run and made it an eight-point play by running the two-point conversion into the endzone.
An 'octupus' to be scored - 12/1 With Betway
Speaking of two-point conversions, we are seeing more and more attempted and converted in the NFL. Kickers, who were regarded as automatic, are no longer as dependable, which can leave a team needed a two-point conversion to draw level.
A team to score a two-point conversion - 9/4 With Betway
If the Philadelphia Eagles are to win Super Bowl LIX, then they are going to need their running game to be firing on all cylinders. They scored seven rushing touchdowns to book their place in New Orleans. The Eagles could score three or more TDs on their own.
Over 2.5 rushing touchdowns - 10/13 With Betway
Both defenses have ferocious pass rushers and between them, they have recorded 20 sacks in their road to New Orleans. The Eagles offensive line has given up 11 sacks in three play-off games, while the Chiefs have allowed five in their last two games.
Over 5.5 totals sacks - Evens With Betway
The last three Super Bowls have been decided by three points. And for good measure the last two deciders played in New Orleans' Superdome, the winning margin was exactly three points.
Super Bowl LIX to be decided by exactly three points - 11/2 With Betway
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