ASK THE EXPERTS appears weekly from training camp through the Super Bowl with answers to a new question being posted Thursday morning. How the guest experts responded when we asked them: What will happen in Super Bowl LV?
JUSTIN ELEFF
Same thing that happens every time this Kansas City team isn’t coasting. It may still look like they’re coasting — they didn’t really break a sweat against Buffalo, which may in fact be the second-best team in the league — but they’ll be up 17 at the end of the third quarter. They’re better than everyone else, and it always shows.
Eleff hosts the Fantasy Index Podcast, available in the iTunes Store now. He has worked for Fantasy Index off and on all century.
DAVID DOREY
Kansas City wins. So long as the critical players are healthy, they will take the win because they are just the best NFL team with Patrick Mahomes as the quarterback. Good enough defense, top players for wideout and tight end. But Mahomes provides the magic. Tom Brady and company should make it a very good game to watch and this will produce big total points. At the end of a very taxing and tiring season, this Super Bowl should be a treat. And if the Buccaneers pull off the win, they should just wave the five-year rule and induct Tom Brady into the Hall of Fame now while he is still playing.
Dorey co-founded The Huddle.com in 1997. He's ranked every player and projected every game for the last 23 years and is the author of Fantasy Football: The Next Level. David has appeared on numerous radio, television, newspaper and magazines over the last two decades.
SCOTT SACHS
Kansas City’s Achilles heel heading into Sunday was formerly one of their strengths--their O-line. Injuries have depleted the ranks and the Bucs D-line is playing well, so KC just needs to do what they do best, which is get the ball out quickly and spread it around. Tampa Bay needs to be able to run to maintain a balanced attack and not play from behind, as KC is much better rushing the passer than defending the run. The Bucs need to stop the pass and not let Hill, Hardman, and Kelce beat them. Even if CEH runs wild, he won't do half the damage Kansas City’s receivers would. Prediction? Take the Bucs and the points as a live "home dog" in a shootout. Fantasy-wise Brady likes Scotty Miller, especially if Antonio Brown sits out. Also like Fournette over Jones, Gronk over Brate. For KC, along with the usual gang, watch out for Mecole Hardman.
Sachs runs Perfect Season Fantasy Football, offering LIVE Talk & Text consulting. He has multiple league championships including 2 perfect seasons. Scott is a past winner of the Fantasy Index Experts Poll and a 2-time winner of the Experts Auction League.
MICHAEL NAZAREK
Kansas City will win on a late field goal, 31-28. A very close and entertaining game.
Nazarek is the CEO of Fantasy Football Mastermind Inc. His company offers a preseason draft guide, customizable cheat sheets, a multi-use fantasy drafting program including auction values, weekly in-season fantasy newsletters, injury reports and free NFL news (updated daily) at its web site. He has been playing fantasy football since 1988 and is a four-peat champion of the SI.com Experts Fantasy League, a nationally published writer in several fantasy magazines and a former columnist for SI.com. He's also won nearly $30K in recent seasons of the FFPC High Stakes Main Event. www.ffmastermind.com. Nazarek can be reached via email at miken@ffmastermind.com.
ANDY RICHARDSON
Readers of this site have probably seen my articles this week, indicating that I expect Kansas City to win. I respect Tampa Bay -- picked them, in fact, to upset New Orleans and Green Bay in their last two games -- and I think there's a chance their pass rush can cause problems for a Kansas City offense that won't have left tackle Eric Fisher. Just maybe they hurry some Patrick Mahomes throws, preventing downfield plays from developing and forcing a few punts. A slow start from Kansas City is also possible, as in last year's Super Bowl and the occasional playoff game in the past. But Kansas City will at least have an experienced backup at left tackle, and the team has had two weeks to craft some things to cover up any deficiencies there. I also think their defense is underrated; will be able to get some stops against Tom Brady and company. The regular season meeting was 27-10 in the fourth quarter, before a late Tampa run. Kansas City is just the all-around better team. Give the points. Kansas City 30, Tampa Bay 24.
Richardson has been a contributing writer and editor to the Fantasy Football Index magazine and www.fantasyindex.com since 2002. His responsibilities include team defense and IDP projections and various site features, and he has run the magazine's annual experts draft and auction leagues since their inception. He previews all the NFL games on Saturdays and writes a wrap-up column on Mondays during the NFL season.
24 Reader Comments:
Yaesha Newman
Andy Richardson
James Costello
NICK FRITZ
What a treat to see this h-2-h
John Doyle
Andy Richardson
I’m not anti Brady or New England. It makes zero difference to me if he won 6 Super Bowls, 8, or 12. It’s way more than anyone else either way.
I call him lucky because he had the same HOF head coach, owner, and decision maker for 20 years. Nobody else can say that, and no one else ever will.
Imagine if Elway had Shanahan his entire career, or Favre had Holmgren for 20 years. That would have been lucky. That’s not the same as saying they’d have been better or won more Super Bowls. Just that they’d have been lucky.
It’s a team game. Not many QBs, especially this century, get to have the kind of continuity Brady enjoyed in New England. I don’t think it’s a particularly wild statement.
Btw I grew up in New England. Rooted for the Patriots for a long time, including a Super Bowl loss, and their first win. It doesn’t matter to the point I was trying to make.
Ian Allan
Ben Hogevoll
Paul Deutsch
jim toon
Pete DeBiase
Andy Richardson
NICK FRITZ
Rick Stark
KC. Youth is served.
Paul Desimone
I'm leaning Ian's way, as far as the game. Tampa's not more talented than KC. But sometimes the more-talented team just runs into the wrong team at the wrong time. It's taken most of the season to whittle down to this, but the Chief's offensive line is nothing like last season's line. The Chiefs won't be able to run on the Bucs with any consistency. Tampa took KC's best shot in the first half of that earlier game, and Bowles has had plenty of time to pore over that game. You won't see Davis one-one-one against Hill again.
Tampa looks like a surly bunch. I think they'll come into that game whipped up by their craggy old goat of a coach, a bunch of guys already feeling disrespected, into one malevolent defense,. And this offense doesn't have Garoppolo at QB - it's got the guy who's ripped out hearts in these games. I just think this is the wrong bunch for the,Chiefs to face, and that the Bus will physically beat up the Chiefs. I don't project scores, but I,can see Tampa winning this one going away.
Pete DeBiase
marc price
marc price
Andy Richardson
Keith Kuhlman
He is the greatest LEADER in sports history. He elevates everyone around him and gets the team to believe. He demands excellence. He will once again get “lucky”. Tampa 31 Chiefs 27
Andy Richardson
Favre was lucky Holmgren came along to develop him. Elway was lucky Shanahan showed up to build a better, run-based offense to help the Broncos win a couple of Super Bowls, rather than get there as a one-dimensional offense and get blown out. Brady was lucky to have a non-meddlesome owner and Hall of Fame coach who had personnel control for 20 years in New England. No hate for Brady here.
Daniel Prokop
Andy Richardson
Ben Hogevoll