We’ve all heard it a thousand times, This Philadelphia Eagles defensive line has been the best we’ve seen since the 1985 Chicago Bears.
So if that’s the case, how did they absolutely disappear in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs?!
Eagles were simply unable to contain the Chiefs offense. They lost the ability to contain the edge, and also lacked an ability to contain anyone within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
In the first half the Eagles won the time of possession battle by a significant amount, 21:54. But there was a huge shift in the second half, the Chiefs won time of possession by two minutes.
The Chiefs were able to keep the ball on the ground and expose the Eagles defensive line, in one area specifically, and when Mahomes threw it, he got it out quick!
Quick game
The Chiefs game plan was to get the ball out quick. Even if they weren’t throwing it quick, they were snapping it quick.
There are two plays that come to mind in the first and second quarter. The first time we saw the Chiefs catch the Eagles off guard was right after an incomplete pass on first down. Travis Kelce and Juju-Smith Schuster were both facing the sideline with their hands in the air as the ball was snapped.
On this play, linebacker TJ Edwards and Marcus Epps were both still communicating as the ball snapped catching them off-guard.
In the second quarter, the Chiefs where the referee didn’t even get out of the box before the ball was snapped.
“They just did a great job getting that ball out of his hands, a lot of quick stuff,” said Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham. “We knew that going in. Then, when we did get him, or we were close to getting him, it was just Mahomes making plays. That last holding play hurt us, definitely when we were about to get off of third down. Third down was not really good to us, today. We know what we did wrong. We’re just going to own it. We’re going to sit in this for a minute and try to figure out for next year how we will make sure to get better.”
When the pocket was kept clean, Mahomes got it out quick, he averaged 2.34 seconds per PFF. In screens it was even quicker, he went 4 for 4 in screens for 18 yards averaging a whopping 1.6 second time to throw.
Even though Chiefs right tackle Whylie allowed nine sacks throughout the season, he was doing a fantastic job against Haasan Reddick. Mahomes only had three scrambles without play action, he went 15-for-20 for 118 yards.
Attacking the Eagles' contain
In order to neutralize the Eagles front, the Chiefs offense targeted specific gaps by pressing the line, and/or pulled in the opposite direction, which forced the defense to collapse, then they bounced the play outside.
The Chiefs had seven rushing attempts to the ‘left end’ for 30 yards. This worked so well because of how wide the Eagles defensive ends lined up. This pairs very well with a wide zone run game. Whichever lane the linebacker chooses to penetrate, there is enough room to choose another.
On the play below, center Joe Thuney passed off the nose tackle to the right guard, and then gets to the second level to pick up C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
When it comes to the pass rush the Eagles were left one-on-one to the outside and doubled in the middle.
Not to mention how bad the field was sodded, forcing players to slip every time they stepped on a blade of grass with some paint on it. This opened huge holes for Mahomes.
Both defensive ends and Mahomes slip on this play.
The All22 shows how much worse the field actually was. #sodgate lol pic.twitter.com/xtDfHnLlfM
— Laurie Fitzpatrick (@LaurieFitzptrck) February 14, 2023
Then by the end of the game when the Eagles came out in five-man fronts, the Chiefs came out in either heavier personnel with extra tight ends or put more players in the backfield to block.
On third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs used two pullers to get Pacheco to the sideline.
According to Sports Info Solutions the Eagles have let up the eighth most yards,144, against two or more pullers, and twelfth most yards after contact, 75.
The Chiefs always seemed to have a counter for the Eagles defense. It seemed like the Chiefs made more of the two weeks of preparation than the Eagles did.
