Every week in “4-Down Territory” powered by KIA, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire go over the things you need to know about, and the things you need to watch, in the NFL right now. With Super Bowl LVII just around the corner, Doug and Luke get into which team between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs has the biggest matchup advantage in the biggest game.
What is the biggest matchup nightmare for either team in this Super Bowl – the one thing that will keep coaches up for several sleepless nights trying to figure out this week?
Doug: It is without question the Eagles’ edge-rushers versus Chiefs offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. on the left side, and Andrew Wylie on the right. Philly has three edge defenders with double-digit sacks this season in Haason Reddick, Brandon Graham, and Josh Sweat. Defensive coordinator Johnathan Gannon can bring those guys in waves, and Reddick has been especially tough to deal with – he might be the NFL’s best pure pass-rusher right now. Both Brown and Wylie have struggled to keep Patrick Mahomes in the pocket this season. No offensive tackles have allowed more total pressures in the 2022 season than Brown with 56 and Wylie with 53, and both Brown and Wylie are specifically vulnerable to rushes in the back half of the arc. Bad news there is that Reddick, Graham, and Sweat can beat you around the pocket all day.
We don’t know how much Mahomes will be able to elude the rush with that high ankle sprain, and if the Chiefs need to leave extra players in to block in their frequent two- and three-tight end sets, that obviously reduces Mahomes’ options in the passing game. One more reason the Chiefs might want to tailor their offensive game plan to rookie running back Isiah Pacheco than people might expect.
Luke: I would love to disagree just for the sake of debate, but I can’t. This is absolutely the matchup, and unfortunately for Chiefs fans, it reminds me of what KC had to deal with in Super Bowl 55 against the Bucs. The pass rush was relentless, the offensive line was inferior, and Mahomes was dealing with a nagging injury in that game, as well. It was a recipe for disaster in that blowout loss against Tampa Bay, and it could be a repeat performance if the Chiefs don’t have a better game plan to deal with it this time around.
