Eagles-Chiefs analysis: Five big questions one week from Super Bowl LIX

NEW ORLEANS — After completing the final week of practice at the NovaCare Complex, the Eagles left for New Orleans on Sunday to begin preparation for Super Bowl LIX in earnest.

There will be plenty of fanfare and anticipation that will take a front seat in the coming days, but the Eagles’ rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs will come down to the matchups each team has already been meticulously studying for a week now.

Here are five questions that each side will need to answer before kickoff on Sunday:

Pretty much each week since the Eagles’ early-season bye, Saquon Barkley & Co. have asked this question to opposing defenses without very many answers. Even against some of the league’s best rushing defenses, the Eagles have found ways to remain productive, consistent, and explosive through the running game. The latter is the most important, especially considering how infrequently the Eagles have taken shots downfield at times this season, instead relying on Barkley’s ability to break off long runs to maintain an explosive offense.

The Eagles have also proved throughout the playoffs that stopping the run isn’t as simple as loading the box. According to Next Gen Stats, roughly a third of Barkley’s rushing attempts have come with eight or more defenders inside the tackle box this postseason, but he has managed to break off big runs despite the crowd at the line of scrimmage in part because of how few tacklers are left on the second and third levels of the defense if the offensive line sorts out the traffic up front.

Bring on the Chiefs, who finished the regular season ranked eighth in rushing yards per attempt allowed. Even that doesn’t tell the full story, though. Kansas City has given up 130 or more rushing yards in five of their last six games. And while the Chiefs haven’t allowed a running back to go over 100 yards individually this season, they have shown susceptibility to quarterback-inclusive run games recently, conceding 149 to the Houston Texans in the divisional round and 147 to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, with C.J. Stroud and Josh Allen each helping to carry the load.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is certain to have a bespoke plan for the Eagles’ run game, especially with the added week. Still, the Eagles have shown that even the best-laid plans can be foiled by a dominant offensive line that allows Barkley to gain a head of steam running away from defenders.

Speaking of Spagnuolo, the imminent challenge the veteran defensive play-caller will present for Jalen Hurts in obvious passing downs will be instructive as well.

The Chiefs finished the regular season fourth in blitz rate, sending extra rushers 31.6% of the time. Spagnuolo’s group was fifth in pressure rate as well, illustrative of how effective Kansas City’s rush packages have been throughout the year.

Even teams that aren’t as effective as the Chiefs are with blitzing have been able to stress the Eagles offense with pressure looks this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Hurts is completing just 33% of his passes when hurried this postseason and has taken 11 sacks on 36 pressured dropbacks. By comparison, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is completing 62.5% of his passes against pressure and has taken five sacks on 25 hurried dropbacks.

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It’s fair to point out that not all pressures are created equal — Hurts has dealt with a handful of free rushers as a result of interior offensive line mix-ups — but those are exactly the types of blitzes Spagnuolo will try to recreate. Finding answers against those pre-snap looks will go a long way toward determining which side of the Eagles’ Jekyll-and-Hyde passing game shows up at the Caesars Superdome.

In Jalen Carter and Chris Jones, this game at the very least features the postseason’s two most productive interior defensive linemen, each of whom can make a case for being the best in a post-Aaron Donald world.

PFF credits Carter with 20 pressures in three playoff games, with Jones logging 11 in two games. Even in the regular season, Jones finished second among defensive tackles with 74 total pressures while Carter’s 53 tied for ninth. Add in Carter’s three total forced fumbles, and the case for him and Jones being at the top of their position becomes even stronger.

Especially when looking at how each of these two defenses are built around star rushers from the interior, it’s hard to argue that defensive tackle isn’t becoming more of a premium position in the league. Both Carter and Jones have a chance to wreck a game, and if one of them actually does it, that might decide who hoists the Lombardi Trophy.

A few days after Zach Ertz managed 11 catches for 104 yards against the Eagles secondary in the NFC championship, the team enlisted Brent Celek, another of the franchise’s former tight ends, to help address what went wrong.

Both Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson went through half-speed reps against Celek during Friday’s practice, foreshadowing what’s to come against Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce this Sunday. The 35-year-old’s production took a slight dip this season, but similarly to Ertz, he’s still plenty dangerous working in the middle of the field and the red zone. Kelce had seven catches for 117 yards and one touchdown in the Chiefs’ divisional-round win against the Texans, including a 49-yard reception to set up a Chiefs scoring drive.

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Kelce’s savvy enough to find the soft spots in the Eagles’ zone coverages, meaning the Eagles will likely need to either deploy a safety on him in man coverage or use zone calls that will also require one of their defensive backs to stick with him.

Looking back at Super Bowl LVII, A.J. Brown’s biggest play should breed confidence going into the rematch.

Brown’s 45-yard touchdown catch came against Trent McDuffie, the cornerback he will likely see even more of this time around. The former first-round pick is no slouch — he was named second-team All-Pro this season — but he has transitioned from being primarily used as a slot corner to spending most of his time on the outside this season. According to Next Gen, 82.6% of McDuffie’s snaps this season have come from an outside alignment, compared to 66.8% last year.

As good as McDuffie has been, the Chiefs may be better suited keeping him on DeVonta Smith based on physical profiles. The 5-foot-11, 193-pound corner may fare better against a technician like Smith, with 6-2 Kansas City cornerback Jaylen Watson reserved for Brown. Either way, there’s reason to believe Brown should be able to make an impact.