It’s not as if the Eagles were unaware of the threat presented in Super Bowl LVII by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — the bigger issue is finding a way to stop Patrick Mahomes’ most dangerous target. On Kansas City’s opening drive, Kelce caught both of Mahomes’ passes for 38 yards, and an 18-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 7-7 with 6:57 left in the first quarter.
The touchdown came about as a lot of the Chiefs’ big plays come about — with pre-snap motion, and displacing defenders in matchup disadvantages. The Eagles were in Cover-1 against the Chiefs’ 11 personnel, and on the right side of the formation, cornerback Darius Slay and safety Marcus Epps were trying to deal with Kelce and receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Kelce’s pre-snap motion inside put Epps instead of Slay on Kelce, and Epps just couldn’t keep up.
