Super Bowl 2025: Where Kansas City Chiefs vs Philadelphia Eagles will be won and lost

Watch out for Mahomes the runner

The Eagles defence will be swarming all over Mahomes, but they have to be careful not to get too aggressive and allow him to wriggle free because he is a lethal scrambler in the play-offs.

Mahomes is not especially quick, but he is nimble, and what makes him dangerous is that on broken plays his telepathy with tight end Kelce is so good that defenders never know if he will attempt an ambitious throw or tuck and run.

He proved the difference against the Buffalo Bills, with two rushing touchdowns and ran for seven first downs in the play-offs to keep drives alive.

Although he threw three touchdowns against Philadelphia in their previous Super Bowl meeting, his late 26-yard scramble was crucial to the Chiefs winning – and that was on a bad ankle.

The battle of the defensive monsters

The big names on offence get all the headlines, but there are two defensive big beasts playing in the Super Bowl on each defensive line that could decide this game.

Kansas City’s Chris Jones and Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter can both wreck a game from anywhere along the defensive line and, although they may not have gaudy sack numbers, they often pop up in big moments and exert telling pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Jones in particular attracts double teams, which can make space for others – but ultimately one of these two players battling in the trenches could have the telling defensive play of the game.