The Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie defensive backs played a huge part in the AFC Championship Game win over the Cincinnati Bengals. They’ll again be called upon to step up and perform against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
The Eagles’ offense led by QB Jalen Hurts produced two 1,000-yard receivers this season in WRs A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith. They also quietly had one of the NFL’s leading rushers in Miles Sanders. Stopping this offense is going to be a tough task for Kansas City, but a challenge that they won’t be shying away from.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, a pair of Chiefs rookies in the secondary gave their thoughts on how they can slow down Philly. Trent McDuffie shared a few ideas about how they can accomplish that goal.
“Yeah, I think one is going to be stopping the run,” McDuffie said. “I think a big thing we have to do is just tackle. A big thing in this game, missed tackles can lead to leaky yardage. That’s what (Steve Spagnuolo) really talks about especially in these later games. I think it just comes down to making plays on the ball at the end of the day. We know the ball is going to — Jalen Hurts is going to take his shots. They have good receivers who can make plays. So, it’s going to be on the back end to stop the ball when they throw it.”
Tackling, stopping the run and making plays on the ball are all things that helped the Chiefs to victory in the AFC title game. For McDuffie’s compatriot Jaylen Watson, he feels this game will be won or lost on much simpler terms.
“It’s just going to be important that everyone (does) their job, it’s just as simple as that,” Watson said. “They’ve got a great receiving corps, a great O-line – just a great overall team (from) top to bottom. So we’re going to (have) to come in and everyone (has) to do their job, fly around, have fun and let the rest handle itself.”
