Is the National Football League the greatest reality show or what!?

Last week, we had the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, two teams considered the best in the league, play one for the ages with Josh Allen and company coming back from double-digits in the fourth quarter to pull out a one-point win, 41-40.

This week, we have another matchup with all the promise of being a barnburner when the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles invade Arrowhead Stadium to battle the team they pulled the rug out from under last February in Super Bowl LIX. In that game, I suspect you recall, the Kansas City Chiefs were looking to become the first team in history to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy three years in a row. Instead, they got their asses kicked by Jalen Hurts and his high scoring Eagles, 40-22.

Last season’s Super Bowl was not as close as the final score. The Chiefs scored two late touchdowns and added a pair of two-point conversions to shift a 40-6 fourth quarter deficit to a final score that looks somewhat better in the history books. Let it just be said that the Chiefs were embarrassed by the Eagles last February and on Sunday get a shot at revenge on their home field.

Easy?

For who?

The Eagles opened defense of their Super Bowl title with a home win on Thursday night over the Dallas Cowboys. The next night, in Brazil, the Chiefs were beaten by their primary AFC West competition, the Los Angeles Chargers, 27-21. Both the Eagles and Chiefs were favored in their openers and neither beat the point spread while the Eagles at Franklin Financial Field were eight-point choices over Dallas and won by four points, 24-20.

Does that mean the Eagles are overrated? Does that mean the Chiefs are no longer the favorites to win it all?

Probably not, and yes.

The Eagles not covering the spread against a division opponent in their Thursday night opener does not indicate they are in decline or too high in the gamblers minds. The point spread for the Philadelphia/Dallas opener was set high and then grew on news the Cowboys had lost the services of defensive stud Micah Parsons, who was shipped to the Green Bay Packers a week before the opener.

While the Eagles game was close on the scoreboard as far as the point spread was concerned, the defending champs never looked in danger of not winning the game. And, after all, that is the ultimate objective.

The Chiefs is a different story.

They truly did look down a notch.

Last season, despite winning the most games in the AFC during the regular season and advancing to their third straight Super Bowl, the Chiefs all world quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, did not have his best season. His stats were down-right pedestrian to the numbers he put up in his first six seasons as the Chiefs starter. And yet, he led Kansas City to their most wins during his career and fell just one game short of establishing an all-time record.

How did the Chiefs do it last year … and what about now?

Andy Reid’s team was as lucky as a lotto winner last year. They were challenged in a number of games that they won by nearly every imaginable break going their way. It was by a toe in the first week, and controversial pass interference call in the second week, a red zone stop in third week action, a missed field goal to avoid defeat in another and a questionable spot that resulted in the Bills turning the ball over in a highly competitive AFC Championship Game.

By the time the Chiefs arrived at Super Bowl LIX they were playing with house money, and as most will attest, in the end the house wins.

But now what?

Well, the public thinks the Chiefs are cooked and the Eagles are the team that is headed for a second straight Super Bowl. That is what the long-term odds for the season indicate and that is what the point spread move this week supports.

The public has lined up with more than 60% of the action on this game backing the Eagles who have moved from a slight underdog to the favorite at Arrowhead. You can see why, the Chiefs receiving corps is not nearly the unit that tormented defenses in the past and without a cast to throw to how good can Mahomes be?

So should we go with what appears to be the more talented team and expect them to back up their Super Bowl victory with another conquest over the Chiefs … this time on their home field? Should we expect the Eagles to advance to a second straight win and drop the defending AFC Champions to a second straight loss?

You’re kidding, right?

Qoxhi Picks: Kansas Chiefs (+1) over Philadelphia Eagles