Super anxiety, part II

Well, here we are, less than 10 hours before kickoff to Super Bowl LVII (that's 57 in case your Roman numerals are a little rusty), and I'm already a mess.

That's because I have something of a vested interest in this game today as the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs for the Lombardi Trophy.

 I was born an hour north of Philadelphia 72 years ago today – in Allentown, to be precise – and I've been a sports fan of anything Philly since I was a pre-teenager. I've been an Eagles fan for almost 60 years and I guess a Phillies fan for longer than that. I often have genetically induced cravings for cheese steaks, hoagies, Tastykakes and A-Treat sodas. I just can't help it.

So I'm pulling for the Eagles today, although you already knew that.

But being a fan from Philly also means you bring a little extra baggage to the game. You hope for the best while expecting the worst. It's in our DNA.

That's where I am today.

This is only the fourth Super Bowl appearance in 57 years for the Eagles. Many of us Eaglers are still living off 2018 when the Eagles unveiled the cherished and perfectly executed Philly Special to defeat Tom Brady – the best quarterback of all time – and the New England Patriots 41-33.

Now we're facing the Chiefs, and I like to think that the two best teams in the NFL are going against each other.

There are some interesting story lines for this game, which no doubt will be explored in depth during all the pre-game hoopla today. For one, it's the first time the opposing quarterbacks – Patrick Mahones of KC and Jalen Hurts of Philly – happen to be men of color. It's kind of hard for me to believe it's taken 57 years for that to happen, but, hey, ain't this America?

It's also the first time two brothers – tight end Travis Kelce of KC and center Jason Kelce of Philly – will face each other. The neat thing here is that both siblings already own Super Bowl rings.

And, of course, KC head coach Andy Reid once coached the Eagles himself, taking them to the Super Bowl in 2005, where they lost to Brady and the Patriots 24-21. (This feels like some kind of a Brady loop). From what I can gather, there's a ton of respect from Eagles fans toward Reid, who is still held in high regard along the Schuylkill River.

So what is my take on the game?

It's a tough call. Both teams can be explosive offensively and both teams are tight defensively, with maybe a slight edge to the Eagles and their league-leading 70 regular-season sacks.  It's at quarterback where the game will be decided, and KC might have the edge here. Mahones already has Super Bowl experience, as well as a ring. Hurts, for as good as he's been this year, needs to show he's ready for prime time when it counts. We'll see.

My pick, of course, will be the Eagles. 28-25.

Now where's that cheese steak?