Jason Kelce named the Eagles as his favorite to win the Super Bowl(Image: NFL on ESPN)
NFL fans did little to hide their frustration with Jason Kelce after the ESPN pundit unsurprisingly picked his former team as a Super Bowl favorite.
Ahead of last Saturday’s slate of games, Kelce — who recently provided his two cents on the physical altercation involving D.K. Metcalf and a Detroit Lions supporter — and his fellow ‘NFL on ESPN’ co-hosts were asked to name the biggest storylines entering the playoffs.
The 38-year-old opted to shine light on the Eagles’ postseason chances, asserting that Philadelphia has what it takes to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy for a second-consecutive year. “For me it’s whether the Philadelphia Eagles will be able to repeat as Super Bowl champions,” he began.
“I mean, listen, they’re rolling on all fronts right now except offense, right? The offensive line and running game needs to get going, but they’re getting help. They are getting Lane Johnson back. Jalen Hurts is going to be running in the postseason.
“You’ve seen it time and time again, he was the only quarterback with multiple three-plus touchdown runs in the postseason. He is a game changer and has been great when the stars have been the brightest.
Shifting his attention to the other side of the ball, Kelce added: “Cooper DeJean, this defense has been generationally great these last few weeks. They’re great tacklers, they are great in space, they get after the quarterback. They do it all.
“I don’t think there is a team out there that I have more confidence in than the Eagles and — to top it off — they’re going to be facing one of these West Coast teams traveling to the East Coast with a bunch of rest this week for a lot of these starters.
“I feel very confident for the Philadelphia Eagles coming in.”
Given Kelce’s history with the Eagles — the ex-center spent his entire 13-year career in Philadelphia and propelled the franchise to a Super Bowl title in 2018 — droves of viewers slammed his clearly partisan take.
“Of course he is going to pick his previous team. So annoying,” one X user wrote, with another adding: “Why ask him the question when he will be biased…be honest with yourself and about the team.”
A third chimed in, “How shocking former eagles hall of fame center believes that the eagles can go back to the SB.”
Unfortunately for Kelce and the Eagles, Philadelphia’s path to becoming back-to-back champions got significantly more difficult following a 24-17 defeat to the Washington Commanders.
Since the Chicago Bears suffered a 19-16 defeat to the Detroit Lions, the Eagles could’ve locked up the No. 2 seed in the NFC had they won in Week 18. Yet Philadelphia opted to rest the large majority of its starters on Sunday, with the backups unable to squeak out a victory over the downtrodden Commanders.
The Eagles were thus forced to settle for the No. 3 seed and will host the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round. Should the Bears defeat the Green Bay Packers on Saturday, Philadelphia would then need to play on the road in Chicago if they advance.
