Eagles-Chiefs in the Super Bowl

[time2rock]

Eagles-Chiefs in the Super Bowl

Posted: January 30th, 2023 | Author: Tommy Lawlor 

The Eagles took care of business, beating the Niners 31-7. The Chiefs had to battle for 60 minutes to beat the Bengals, 23-20. That sets up a Super Bowl with a ton of storylines, from the Reid connection to the Kelces to the playing styles of the offenses and defenses.

We have a ton of time to analyze the game. At its most simple, the Eagles have the advantage on the LOS and the Chiefs have the advantage at QB. Some of you may not like that last part, but Patrick Mahomes is on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Jalen Hurts just had an amazing season and his future is wide open, but Mahomes is on another level.

https://twitter.com/newheightshow/status/1619917016181395457

Both teams went 14-3. Both have playmakers all over the lineup. Both have outstanding coaching staffs. This has a chance to be a compelling matchup and a great game.

Can the Chiefs block the Eagles?

Can the Eagles contain Mahomes?

Can KC handle the Eagles run game and Hurts?

At a glance, I like the Eagles. They’ve been great all year. They win the LOS almost every week. That makes it incredibly challenging to beat them. And the Eagles have dominated the first two playoff games.

Wow.

*****

The Niners defense really challenged the Eagles offense. We’ll have to see what the tape shows, but it seemed like Hurts inability to connect on deep balls was key. He had AJ wide open for a huge gain and just overthrew him. There were some other plays where deep throws just didn’t work.

The coaches could see the passing game was struggling so they decided to run the ball. Simple idea, but not so easy when going against the best run defense in the league. The Eagles OL started to win battles upfront and the backs ran hard. No hesitation. No dancing. They attacked the right gaps and started to move the chains.

The Eagles ran 44 times for 148 yards. Only Atlanta ran for more on SF and that was a game without Nick Bosa or Arik Armstead. The Eagles piled up their yards against a healthy defense.

You really have to give a lot of credit to the Eagles OL. They weren’t able to overwhelm the defense like they did the Giants last week, but they did enough so the running game could be effective. That made all the difference in the world.

Kenny Gainwell led the way with 48 yards on the ground. Miles Sanders ran for a pair of TDs. Boston Scott and Hurts each ran for a TD. This was a group effort and everybody did their part.

*****

The real turning point in the game came late in the first half. The Eagles were up 14-7. SF got the ball with 1:36 on the clock. No one expected fourth string QB Josh Johnson to lead the Niners down the field to points. Still, Kyle Shanahan wanted to keep the Eagles from scoring so he new he needed to be somewhat aggressive so the Eagles timeouts wouldn’t allow them to get the ball back.

Johnson completed a first down pass and it looked like SF would be okay. Then Johnson took his eyes off the ball on the next snap and the Eagles recovered the fumble. The Eagles scored four plays later to go up 21-7 and the game was basically over.

It was ironic for the Niners to fall apart like this. They only had 6 turnovers in their 12-game winning streak. Their defense had 20 takeaways in the last seven games. They lived off winning the turnover battle.

That is dangerous. You can’t count on winning that each and every week. That’s when you need a difference-maker at QB. Johnson certainly wasn’t that guy. I’m not sure a healthy Brock Purdy would have been that guy.

*****

As good as the game was, the Eagles have plenty to work on. Nick Sirianni and his coaches will have mistakes to point out and get fixed. That’s a good thing. It will help to keep the Eagles humble and focused.

AJ Brown dropped a key pass that would have moved the chains.

Marcus Epps and CJ Gardner-Johnson missed tackles on the Christian McCaffrey TD run.

Jack Stoll missed a block that almost led to a safety.

Darius Slay had a chance for an INT and couldn’t make the catch.

Josh Jobe had a dumb penalty that gave SF 15 yards of field position.

*****

How deep are the Eagles? Nadmukong Suh led the team with 2 QB hits. It was his hit that knocked Johnson out of the game.

*****

From 2020 to the middle of 2021 the Eagles went 6-16-1.

Since then, the Eagles are 23-7, including the postseason. That is one heck of a turnaround.

*****

There is one bit of sad news. I’m heading down to Mobile for the Senior Bowl this week. Normally that means I get a chance to hang out with Jimmy Bama, Fran Duffy and all my other friends in the Philly media. Those guys will be sticking around Philly to cover the Super Bowl bound Eagles.

Maybe I can find some fun Dallas writers to hang out with.

I’ll be writing about the Eagles and draft prospects during the week. Lots to cover, but two subjects I love. Good problem to have.

http://igglesblitz.com/2023/01/eagles-chiefs-super/

[jsdarkstar]

The Eagles will win the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. 

Eagles Win.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Games are won in the trenches. We have the edge on both sides in the trenches. If Mahomes is at his best then there's little we can do but I think we win. 

[nipples]

18 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Games are won in the trenches. We have the edge on both sides in the trenches. If Mahomes is at his best then there's little we can do but I think we win. 

Mahomes could work some magic for sure, but I think back to the Super Bowl they lost to the Bucs, when the Tampa DLine was all over him and took him off his game. I think this Eagle DLine could do the same thing. 

[Portyansky]

21 hours ago, nipples said:

Mahomes could work some magic for sure, but I think back to the Super Bowl they lost to the Bucs, when the Tampa DLine was all over him and took him off his game. I think this Eagle DLine could do the same thing. 

KC oline was pretty much a bunch of practice squad players in that game. They are better now, I believe 4th overall. This won't be a cake walk like some think. JG will actually need to send extra pressure. Mahomes was only sacked 26 times. SF and NYG QBs were sacked 44 times each for a comparison. Obviously KC oline hasn't played a line like ours, maybe the case could be made for SF, but they were handled. And highly doubt they will ask Kelce to block Reddick.

[EricAllenPick6]

If the NFL was rigged, this was the super bowl that they wanted the whole time.  You'll see lots of offense.  Great running from Hurts and Mahomes, long passes, great pass catching by the DEs.  This should be a shootout, a big defensive play or two could make the difference in the game.  

 

[nipples]

6 hours ago, Portyansky said:

KC oline was pretty much a bunch of practice squad players in that game. They are better now, I believe 4th overall. This won't be a cake walk like some think. JG will actually need to send extra pressure. Mahomes was only sacked 26 times. SF and NYG QBs were sacked 44 times each for a comparison. Obviously KC oline hasn't played a line like ours, maybe the case could be made for SF, but they were handled. And highly doubt they will ask Kelce to block Reddick.

I don’t care who they are playing against, there isn’t an offensive line in this league that can handle the depth of pass rushers the Eagles have.