This weekend’s Super Bowl pitches the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in what is sure to be a keenly-contested matchup to find the NFL’s best team of 2023. It’s a game that the sportsbooks have found hard to call, with the Eagles thinly favored to take their second-ever title. The 1.5 point spread between the sides means, however, that the Chiefs could win this game without it being a genuine surprise, and as the odds below show, even the long-odds specialists at crypto sportsbook Cloudbet are offering the Chiefs at 2.08. That’s a signifier of how competitive this game will be.
As is often the case in the runup to a Super Bowl, there are some human interest stories that are worth looking at to give the football game a bit more of a homespun feeling. In a game where so much of the focus is on the ad spending for TV spots during the contest (something Cloudbet has eschewed in favor of giving the audience better odds), the personal stories are often what makes a game more interesting. And like any other Super Bowl, there are some things that will make this game unique in its own way.
The first ever Super Bowl with brothers on opposite teams
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce is a major reason for the Chiefs’ presence in the biggest game of the season. His enduring consistency as a possession receiver has helped Patrick Mahomes post up his usual incredible numbers as a quarterback. In this game, he will have a little extra incentive to play his best. His brother, Jason, will be playing at center for the Eagles. Both Travis and Jason have a Super Bowl ring each, gained in 2020 and 2018 respectively. With Jason potentially retiring after the season ends, this will be the Kelce Bowl to decide which brother wins out. Fans of crypto betting can back either brother by using Cloudbet’s efficient platform – in action since 2013 – to pick the winning team.
The first Super Bowl with both teams featuring a black quarterback
The first black QB to play in a Super Bowl was Doug Williams, who piloted Washington to a rout of the Denver Broncos in 1988. Thirty-five years on, the history will be made by Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, as they become the first black quarterbacks to face off against one another in a Super Bowl, In a position that seemed almost closed off to black players just a generation ago, this is no small sign of progress. Both QBs have enjoyed superb seasons and either would be a worthy recipient of a ring based on this season’s play.
The first Super Bowl post-Brady
It’s fair to say that over the last couple of decades, the Super Bowl has been Tom Brady’s personal fiefdom. Other QBs may have won it in that time, but it has always felt like it was on loan from the Hall of Fame certainty as he threw the Patriots to the title six times and then added another with Tampa Bay. Brady recently announced his retirement from the game – “for good this time” – at the age of 45. Both Hurts and Mahomes can make a big statement in the race to become the league’s elite passer by leading their team to victory in the first Super Bowl to take place in a Brady-free NFL.