49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk will have the popcorn ready on Super Bowl Sunday.
During an appearance on the “SFNiners Podcast” Saturday, less than a week after Philadelphia dominated San Francisco in the 2023 NFC Championship game, 31-7, Aiyuk remarked how the Eagles got “extremely lucky” in the contest which saw the 49ers lose rookie quarterback Brock Purdy to injury early on. The 24-year-old wideout believes the AFC champion Chiefs will “expose” the Eagles on the NFL’s biggest stage, the team’s defense, specifically.
“I don’t know fully about [Philly’s] defense. They talk about them being a good defense. I’m not sure. I think the pass game, this Kansas City pass game will expose what we thought we would be able to expose before some unfortunate circumstances happened, so we’ll see. But like I said, you got to get lucky to win the Super Bowl, and they got extremely lucky,” Aiyuk said, per CBS News.
Philadelphia’s defense ranked second in yards allowed during the regular season at 301.5 per game, while San Francisco led the pack at 300.6. The Eagles ranked No. 1 in sacks with 70.
On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs’ offense led the league in total yards per game at 413.6, led by a Patrick Mahomes passing attack that generated 297.8 yards per game.
“Hypothetically speaking if I were to bet on this game, I would take everything that I own, get it in cash and put my money on the Kansas City Chiefs,” he said.
Aiyuk is the latest NFC star to join the chorus of folks chirping at the Birds. Last week, Giants safety Julian Love — whose team was eliminated by the Eagles in the Divisional Round of the playoffs — remarked how head coach Nick Sirianni is “in for a free ride,” citing Philadelphia’s “experienced roster.”
Eagles veteran Brandon Graham later fired back at Love: “People always got something to say when they’re at home.”
Super Bowl 2023 gets underway from Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday, Feb. 12.
