The Eagles are Super Bowl favorites… but could their easy path lead to wake-up call from Chiefs? 

Take a step back from the Eagles’ stacked roster and impressive resume, and you’ll find a slightly troubling fact.

Lately, this is not a team that has been tested a lot.

It’s very possible, even likely, that part of that perception is due to the team’s utter dominance until Super Bowl LVII against the Chiefs.

Philly is 16-3, including the postseason, has an electric offense led by Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith and Miles Sanders and its defense has allowed just 14 combined points in its previous two playoff games.

Those facts have contributed to their being considered 1.5-point favorites over Kansas City.

And while it’s hard to argue with Philly’s résumé, their relative championship waltz opens up the possibility of being snapped up by the Chiefs.

The Eagles had the second-easiest projected schedule strength based on preseason win totals in Las Vegasand finished with the third-easiest joint slate at the end of the year by Pro Football Reference Metrics.

But it’s Philly’s recent streak that seems worryingly easy.

For the privilege of competing with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the title, Nick Sirianni’s team beat a vastly outmatched Giants team in the divisional round before defeating the 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship.

That win looks a lot better on paper, though, as anyone who’s seen the game knows San Francisco played mostly with a combination of fourth-stringer Josh Johnson and a badly injured Brock Purdy, who was later diagnosed with a torn tear. from UCL six months.

Looking at the big picture, and excluding the 49ers game, the Eagles haven’t played a top-10 team in points per game since week 16 against the Cowboys. That will be about six weeks from when Philly starts against Kansas City on February 12.

Aside from that 40-34 loss to Dallas, the Eagles’ recent run has been a piece of cake when it comes to their defense.

The Giants, whom they played in the divisional round and in Week 18, finished tied for 15th in points per game and actually removed third-string member Davis Webb for the end of the regular season.

In Week 17, it was the Saints (22nd in points per game) and in Week 15 the Bears (23rd in points per game) put up another favorable matchup.

Likewise, the Eagles also have to thank on the defensive side of the ball.

They were tied for first in the league in yards per play (4.8), tied for fourth in most snap-offs (27) and seventh in points per game (20.2).

A defense anchored by Haason Reddick (team-leading 16 regular-season sacks), TJ Edwards (team-leading 159 tackles) and Darius Slay (three interceptions and a Pro Bowl nod at cornerback) has established itself as a force. facing the Super Bowl.

Going from the Giants and 49ers (without a quarterback) to Mahomes and the Chiefs is going to be a steep climb, though, and it’s fair to wonder how prepared Philly will be for their opponents.

Behind Mahomes, Travis Kelce and a host of other weapons like Juju Smith-Schuster and Isaiah Pacheco, the Chiefs posted a league-high 29.2 points per game and 6.4 yards per play this regular season.

That’s a much better unit than any the Eagles have faced lately, or all season, for that matter, and facing Mahomes and company will be a good litmus test of just how good this Philly defense really is.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City D has faced a tougher road to Arizona of late.

While KC finished with a similarly weak schedule (fifth easiest according to Pro Football Reference), they had to top Super Bowl LVI finalists the Bengals in the AFC Championship and were pushed by the Jaguars, who finished like one of the best. -10 scoring offense – the previous round.

Kansas City hadn’t beaten the Bengals in their previous three tries, and their season seemed on the line when Cincinnati had the ball with less than a minute remaining in the game.

Their defense, which ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of points per game, was also tested by the Raiders (12th in ppg) and Seahawks (ninth) in Weeks 18 and 16 respectively.

Of course, the easy road the Eagles paved in the playoffs to the Super Bowl was in part a deserved reward for their regular-season play.

A first-round bye landed them directly in the divisional round against the sixth seed, while they were lucky to face a toothless attack from the 49ers in the conference championship.

The Chiefs haven’t looked at their most explosive form en route to Arizona, though they won’t be complaining about their third Super Bowl appearance in four years.

With the tiny margins for error in that scenario, it could be the Chiefs, who seemed in danger of being eliminated against Cincy, who come out as the more experienced group.

The Eagles’ dominance may soon set the stage for a rude awakening.