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Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs’ receiver room looks much different heading into Super Bowl LIX than we’ve seen in years past. Rookie Xavier Worthy has made a big impact in the postseason. Hollywood Brown made his Chiefs debut late in the regular season and has seen a high snap count in two playoff games.
One player we haven’t seen much during this postseason is DeAndre Hopkins. Expect that to change in the Super Bowl. The Eagles prefer to play zone coverage on the backend. Hopkins has always found success against this type of defense. He knows how to find the pockets in zone coverages to exploit the defense. Hopkins will take advantage of Philadelphia’s young corners for a couple of big plays.
If shutting down Saquon Barkley is out of the cards, the Chiefs will have to apply pressure on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts when he drops back to pass. Hurts isn’t the same quarterback when he faces pressure. George Karlaftis is Kansas City’s best edge rusher, and will likely draw a lot of attention for Philadelphia’s pass protection. All-Pro DT Chris Jones always seems to rise to the occasion during the Super Bowl. Aside from those two, we’re looking at Charles Omenihu to make an impact.
Omenihu did not play in the Super Bowl last year after suffering a torn ACL in the AFC Championship Game. He returned to the field two months ago and quickly reestablished himself as a key contributor to Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. He collected a sack against the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round and will surely be fired up to play after missing last year’s game.
Philadelphia Eagles
Consistency hasn’t been an issue for Philly’s No. 2 WR. He’s recorded four receptions in each game and has caught all 12 targets. However, the Eagles are still waiting for a breakout performance from their talented wideout. Through three games, he has just 121 yards and zero scores. The Eagles haven’t relied on the passing attack yet, but they may need to air it out to keep up with Patrick Mahomes.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Eagles broke the record for most sacks in a season. In the Super Bowl that year, they didn’t bring Mahomes down once. The Philadelphia pass rush will have to be more impactful this time. In Mahomes’ only Super Bowl loss, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense lived in Kansas City’s backfield. They ended up recording 3.0 sacks, but they constantly generated pressure and forced Mahomes to try and create out of structure. He was never comfortable in that game, which led to the Chiefs revamping their offensive line.
Kansas City’s interior offensive line is among the league’s best. They might not be able to completely stop Eagles DT Jalen Carter, but they’ll make it difficult for the former Georgia Bulldog to wreck the game. With Carter drawing double teams, Philadelphia’s edge rusher have to win on the outside. Nolan Smith has been a spark for the Eagles in the playoffs (4.0 sacks in 3 games). His speed off the edge is breathtaking. Smith has a chance to set the tone early for Philadelphia’s pass rush.
