NFL Coaches and Execs on Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Matchup: It’s Hard Picking Against Kansas City.
Two years ago, these two teams faced off on the sport’s largest stage, two time zones away from New Orleans.
The background for Super Bowl LVII differed significantly from that of Super Bowl LIX. The Philadelphia Eagles arrived with Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts on the scene, a new coaching staff, and a loaded roster surrounding them—as well as house money to play in Arizona. The Kansas City Chiefs, meanwhile, were in their third Super Bowl in four years and having endured two straight winters of postseason misery following Andy Reid’s first Lombardi Trophy victory in February 2020.
Twenty-four months later, the Eagles arrive in Louisiana with Sirianni having survived a year on the hot seat, a restructured seasoned staff, and Hurts on a lucrative second deal. The Chiefs enter New Orleans as the league’s undisputed kings, making their fifth trip to this stage in six years in search of Reid and Patrick Mahomes’ fourth Lombardi Trophy—which would tie them with Terry Bradshaw and Chuck Noll for second in Super Bowl wins as a coach/quarterback combo, trailing only Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
And, as these clubs’ fortunes evolved, so did their rosters. Kansas City’s youthful defense has matured. The Eagles have become younger and faster on that side of the ball. The Chiefs have reintroduced speed into their attack with Xavier Worthy and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, after originally focusing on a larger, more muscular skill group after Tyreek Hill. Saquon Barkley is also here now.
We are as well, and we will break it all down for you with only six days till kickoff in the Superdome.
The takeaways cover a wide range of topics, including the significance of Barkley’s year, the Dallas Cowboys’ hiring of Brian Schottenheimer, the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterbacks, and the draft’s top picks. And a whole lot more. But we’ll start with ten specific aspects to look for in the big game.
And to assist, I hired a head coach, an offensive coordinator, a defensive coordinator, and two professional scouting directors who faced both the Eagles and the Chiefs this season.
• The one overriding feature of this clash is the stark disparity in strategy—with one side throwing everything at you and the other relying on speed, execution, and crushing you with its finest players.
“Two totally different animals,” explains one of our coaches. “Nobody is simpler than the Eagles offense. It’s a static configuration. It takes slower shifts and motions to get some information, but it’s all about the run game. Spags [Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] is not going to sit back and play one or two coverages. He will test you with several challenges.
“So you have an aggressive approach with Spags. On the other hand, you have [Eagles DC Vic] Fangio, who within the system makes these minor formational changes dependent on where the halfback is. There are numerous micro-modifications in contrast to the macro-attack adjustments made by the [Chiefs]. There’s a cool distinction.”
Indeed, the Eagles’ defense will have to contend with the Chiefs’ erratic movement, formations, and personnel combinations, but the Chiefs’ defense must be disciplined, patient, and consistent.
The Chiefs will need to find a way to quiet Barkley, who has been the Eagles’ offensive centerpiece. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.
• It’s no secret that in his first year as an Eagle, Barkley has become the cornerstone of what first-year coordinator Kellen Moore—who is expected to stay in New Orleans to become the Saints coach after the game—has developed. So, the first task for Spagnuolo’s team will be to keep Barkley from going wild, which is easier said than done.
It’s not as if the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, and Washington Commanders had no idea what to do against Barkley and Philly’s mammoth line. In those games, the 2,000-yard rusher rushed for 119, 205, and 118 yards.
“It’s gap discipline—you’ve got to tackle,” explains one of our executives. “You must be able to finish tackles against him one-on-one. If he makes it to the perimeter, the 50-yard chunk run plays begin. He’s brilliant at arranging things. Say there’s a run to the left, he slows it down, and the ‘backer overflows, causing you to lose one gap on the back side, then he cuts it back, resulting in a massive chunk run. It’s really simply numbers and gap discipline. “Your perimeter guys will have to tackle him.”
“You got to pressure it, which Spags will do, and make sure that you don’t give him a lot of space,” a coach told us. “If he has space, he’s going to make you miss.”
Ultimately, this means winning on first down and getting the Eagles into deep yardage situations.
Is there a secret crucial participant in that effort? Leo Chenal, a Chiefs linebacker, has been suggested by a few of coaches as a guy Spagnuolo can use as a hybrid—someone strong enough to set edges and agile enough to work in space—chess piece to stop Barkley.
Why What’s wrong with winning on first down? The quarterback run game comes into action on second-and-long, when defenses deploy lesser men on the field.
“They run so much quarterback run game on second-and-long,” adds another of our coaches. “It’s a quarterback draw, planned run, and gap-read strategy. While they’re off track, they’ll use Hurts’ legs in some way. It will be fascinating to watch how they handle second down. That will be the key. That’s what Philly does so well: it’s second-and-10, they go into empty space, run a quarterback draw, and it’s suddenly third-and-2.
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