Super Bowl 2025: MVP Favorites and Predictions for Chiefs vs. Eagles

On February 9, head coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs will seek to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

The team standing in their way? A team Reid is very familiar with, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs enter the game with, arguably, their most complete team in recent memory while the Eagles arrive more explosive on offense and with the top defense in the league.

Which players stand out as potential MVP candidates and which team will ultimately hoist the Lombardi Trophy after winning the second Super Bowl match-up between the two in three years?

Find out in this preview, including a prediction for the big game.

Saquon Barkley (+260; bet $100, win $360)

The former Giants running back arrived in Philadelphia facing loft expectations and he exceeded all of them. Barkley ended the regular season with 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns before putting an exclamation point on his performance with 442 yards in three games and five rushing touchdowns.

He has been the driving force behind the Eagles' offense all season long and could be the difference between a crushing second Super Bowl defeat in three years and a second Lombardi Trophy since 2018.

As he goes, the Eagles will, too. A win for the Birds likely means another dominant performance by a player who should earn recognition as the NFL's regular season MVP, even if the award is more likely to be reserved for a quarterback.

Jalen Hurts (+350)

The Eagles may not have won the Super Bowl in their first dance with the Chiefs at the end of the 2022 season, but there was no denying who the best player on the field was that night.

Hurts completed 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards and carried 15 times for 70 yards. He scored four times (one passing, three rushing) and erased an eight-point deficit to tie the Chiefs.

He has not been the same player that he was then, but showed more than once in the playoffs that he is a player who can lead his squad down the field, make key throws, and is not afraid to yield to Barkley when the time calls.

If he can come close to that performance from two years ago and exploit Kansas City's 18th-ranked pass defenses with big completions to AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, Hurts will add the ultimate individual award to the Lombardi Trophy.

Patrick Mahomes (+120)

The face of the league, on the team heading to their third straight Super Bowl, is an obvious Super Bowl MVP selection.

In every one of the team's Super Bowl victories, he has been named the MVP. Much of that can be attributed to his ability to make plays in key moments that catapult his team to victory but a small portion can be chalked up to the fact that he is the most recognizable face on the most successful team in the league, playing the most celebrated position.

If the Chiefs win Sunday's game, and Mahomes is a significant part of that victory, expect more of the same.

Even in the midst of one of his less remarkable seasons.

Travis Kelce (+1500)

The star tight end is wrapping up one of his statistical worse seasons but there are few players who have turned it on and showed out when it matters most likely Kelce.

He did it a season ago against Baltimore in the AFC Championship game, when he caught 11 balls for 116 yards and a touchdown. He did it again in this year's divisional round against Houston, corralling seven balls for 117 yards and a touchdown.

If there is one area of the Eagles defense that can be exploited, it is the linebacker and safety position. If they are tasked with covering Kelce without any support, it could be a big day for No. 87, whose playing future beyond the Super Bowl is in question.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

While the offensive players will likely receive the adulation of fans via MVP votes, it is the defense that will likely be the difference between victory and defeat in Super Bowl LIX.

While the Eagles enter the game with the top-ranked squad, it may be the Chiefs' defense that proves the difference in the game.

The Chiefs are the eighth-ranked rush defense in the NFL and have not allowed a 100-yard running back in eight straight playoff games. If the Chiefs can construct a game plan that keeps Barkley from accumulating 100, they will win the game.

Yes, they are susceptible to the pass, and Hurts is more than capable of exploiting that weakness to the Eagles' benefit, but if you ask anyone on the Chiefs defense if they would rather contain Barkley and contend with Hurts, they would likely take that scenario in a heartbeat.

Chris Jones is a future Hall of Famer up front. Nick Bolton has shown out on the Super Bowl stage before. The secondary bends but rarely breaks.

The Chiefs defense has kept the team in games this year and is as essential to the team's success as the offense. They will prove it one more time in New Orleans as the Chiefs outlast the Eagles in another three-point slugfest and make history as the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row.

Prediction: Chiefs def. Eagles, 27-24