Breaking Down Super Bowl LVII With Matt Verderame
Looking At The Key Matchups & Storylines...
Super Bowl LVII is here.
The biggest and most significant day in the football calendar has finally arrived, and it should be a great one.
This really is a battle of the heavyweights.
The Philadelphia Eagles have the best pass rush defense in the NFL. They lead the league in sacks with 70 and they boast the most formidable front 7 in all of football.
The Kansas City Chiefs, meanwhile, ranked second in sacks with 55 and Chris Jones is at the peak of his very powers right now. He could well emerge as the biggest difference-maker on Sunday.
Offensively, these two teams set the standard for the rest of the NFL this year. The Chiefs averaged the most passing yards (298) during the regular season.
As for the quarterbacks? This is as probably as mouthwatering a duel as you could wish for. Patrick Mahomes is first in Total QBR (72.7) and second in TD-INT ratio (37-8). Jalen Hurts, meanwhile, ranks second in Total QBR (69.5) and first in TD-INT ratio (21-4). We all know what Mahomes is capable of, and Hurts proved this year that he too belongs in the upper echelons of QB’s in the NFL. And, while the Eagles are known for their ground and pound run offense, Hurts can sling it. He has the highest completion percentage (66.5%) from inside the pocket.
This contest is also as even as they come. The Chiefs and the Eagles share the same record (16-3), and they both scored the same number of points (546). With so many storylines, so many angles to cover, we spoke to FanSided’s National NFL Reporter, Matt Verderame to cover some of the most anticipated matchups…
Q: Matt, we are used to Patrick Mahomes doing jaw-dropping things with the football. But, one area he’s really worked on this year has been the ability to not always play superhero ball. What do you expect from the Kansas City offense on Sunday?
A: “Mahomes has thrown for 5,250 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and he’s the MVP of the league, obviously. A lot of that has been that he’s taken what he’s been given. They spread the ball around a lot more than they used to. It used to be Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and then everybody else. Kelce is certainly the main man - nobody would deny that but, after that, there’s a lot more in the weaponry armoury for Mahomes than there used to be. It’s JuJu Smith-Schuster who almost had 1,000 yards this year, MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) who had a career year, it’s (Isiah) Pacheco and (Jerick) McKinnon in the backfield who, as a duo, is really, really dynamic and versatile. It’s these two or three tight end sets that the Chiefs use. They are really good when they go with Jody Fortson, Noah Gray, Blake Bell and some combination of those guys with Kelce because they are versatile.
“They can block, they can catch, they are good in the red zone and they are good to use on third down. The Chiefs all year have been made out as this team that now plays a little bit more of a dink-and-dunk style. The Eagles have 80 explosive plays this year, of plays of 20 or more yards, and that’s second in the league. The Chiefs have 83. Nobody gets more explosive plays than Kansas City so, while they are certainly better at taking some of those checkdown throws instead of forcing it, they are still more dangerous than anyone else in the NFL when it comes to getting chunk plays in a hurry.”
Q: These teams are incredibly well matched in almost every single aspect. In your mind, where will Super Bowl LVII be won and lost for these teams?
A: “I think the Eagles have to win upfront consistently to have a shot to win this game. And I know there’s been a lot of talk about how ‘the Eagles are getting picked by more people than not,’ but if they don’t get to Mahomes all night long, and I don’t just mean getting a hand in his face, I mean sack him and bringing him to the ground, then they are going to have a long night on defense. Because, one thing about the Chiefs, they can play anyway you want to play. They can spread you out, they can run two or three tight end sets as I mentioned, they can go two-by-two, they can go three-by-one, they can play condensed formations, they can play spread formations and that team, if they find a way to mitigate Philadelphia’s pass rush.
“And I’ve got a feeling the way they’re going to do it; they’re going to play spread this game. The Chiefs are just going to spread them four and five wide and say ‘the ball is coming out in two seconds - good luck!’ Philadelphia typically plays a tonne of zone defense and if they do that in this game and they can’t get home, I think they are dead in the water. Now, if they can get home and if they do a nice job behind it, maybe (Jonathan) Gannon (Eagles’ Defensive Coordinator) can throw some wrinkles in there and they can get home, then it very much becomes a game very much in Philadelphia’s favor. I think that’s going to be the tipping point. The Eagles have, in my opinion, the best pass rush in the NFL, the best offensive line in the NFL and, the funny thing is, the Chiefs are probably second in those categories. The Chiefs probably have the second best offensive line. Both teams had three Pro Bowlers up front, both teams had two All-Pros on the offensive line and (Chris) Jones is the best defensive player in this game. Period. But, the Eagles have the deeper rush, the Chiefs finished second in the league in sacks with 55. I think the Eagles have to decisively win up front and if they don’t do that and it becomes even, or somehow tilts into Kansas City’s favor, I think it is a very hard game for Philadelphia to win.”
Q: When it comes to the offensive side of the ball for the Eagles, we know they can dominate with that famous ground and pound run game. But they can also make the explosive plays too. In your mind, what will their most effective offensive gameplan be against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII?
A: “Yeah, you know what, the Eagles are a really diverse team. They present a lot of problems, they have a great offensive line, Hurts is a duel threat, they have two big-time receivers on the outside, (Dallas) Goedert is a really good tight end, (Miles) Sanders certainly has had a great year running the ball and I think what is going to be interesting in this game, they have two really experienced guys upfront but, one of them, is Jason Kelce. Jason Kelce being the center is going to make all of those line calls and this is going to be a fascinating mental matchup between Jason Kelce and Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs’ Defensive Coordinator. I will be very surprised if the Chiefs just don’t relentlessly go after Hurts and pressure him in this game. They are going to try and light him up with five or six guys, there’s going to be times where they will show a lot of blitzes and then they will drop it, they will show a lot of blitzes and they will then bring the whole thing.
“If you look at their playoff games, there were times when they were dropping 340 pound defensive tackles into zone coverage and blitzing safeties over the center. They do a lot. Hurts is not going to see all of that stuff. He’s young and he’s not seen Spagnuolo very often in his career. Now, Kelce has seen Spagnuolo. He’s seen 10, 12 years of NFL offenses so he’s going to have to be the one that identifies it and identifies it in time. If he identifies it with four seconds on the play clock left, it doesn’t matter. That’s going to be a big thing in this game - Philadelphia has got to get to the line of scrimmage with 15, 20 on the clock so they can identify it and diagnose it. If they are late getting out of the huddle, and that’s an experience thing potentially, if they are late getting out of the huddle with seven, eight seconds on the clock and they can’t adjust, that’s going to be a problem.
“I think for Philly, the gameplan on offense has got to be run the ball, stay ahead of the sticks, and then they don’t throw the ball a tonne to their backs, but this is a game where they might need to. Throw the straight pass, get the ball out quickly because they are not going to have too many plays in this game where the Chiefs aren’t bringing some kind of pressure. So, I think it’s important for them if you want to slow the Chiefs down, swing the ball out, let Kenneth Gainwell get involved, let Miles Sanders catch a few passes and that would go a long way for making the Chiefs having to play them a little bit more straight up.”
To listen to our full chat with Matt, head over to ‘The Andrew Steele Podcast’ for our special Super Bowl LVII Edition.