The Super Bowl will be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles for the second time in three years. However, both these teams are quite different from their Super Bowl 57 squads.
The Eagles now have young stars thriving on defense and a new running back in Saquon Barkley. In Kansas City, the Chiefs win games because of great defense instead of Patrick Mahomes’ heroics. These teams are great, and here are their X-Factors in the Super Bowl.
Dallas Goedert
Dallas Goedert is the Eagle’s offensive X-Factor this weekend. The one area the Chiefs have struggled in defensively is guarding the tight end. In the regular season, they allowed at least 80 receiving yards to tight ends nine times. It has been apparent that despite their elite defense the Chiefs have a hard time with good tight ends.
Goedert has had a lackluster season so far. He finished the regular season with 42 catches for 496 yards and two touchdowns. It was his worst season since his rookie year. But Goedert has stepped up in the postseason. In three games he’s posted 15 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown.
Now heading into the biggest game of the season, Goedert is the key to the Eagle’s passing attack. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will have their hands full. The Chief’s secondary has only given up over 200 yards once this season. Goedert needs to be even more reliable than he was in Super Bowl 57 with his six catch-60 yard performance. If he isn’t the Chiefs will load the box and force Hurts to take shots downfield all game.
Creed Humphrey
Typically you don’t see centers be named X-Factors for teams, but in this case Creed Humphrey will have a major impact on the game. The Eagle’s have an elite duo of young interior defensive linemen in Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. They also have Milton Williams who ranks sixth of all defensive tackles in pass rush win rate.
The Chiefs haven’t had a semblance of a run game since Isaiah Pacheco returned. This means the Chiefs will likely air the ball out more than they have all year. And with shaky play at tackle, Mahomes ‘needs Creed Humphrey to be perfect, from pre-snap to post-snap.
The block calls always start with the center. With Joe Thuney being kicked out to tackle, it’s Humphrey’s responsibility to make sure Mike Caliendo is right, a guy who only has three career starts. The Chiefs and expect there to be pressure off the edge, but if Mahomes can step up in the pocket, that edge rush could be neutralized.
Creed Humphrey is arguably the best center in football in just his fourth season. This game will arguably the toughest of his career, and he could earn a huge pay following a dominant Super Bowl performance.
Nolan Smith
Nolan Smith is the defensive X-Factor for the Eagles. As mentioned earlier, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have great tackles. The last time this happened Patrick Mahomes was pressured 38 times in Super Bowl 55. If the Eagles want to replicate Tamp Bay’s performance, it all starts with Nolan Smith.
Smith is just a second-year player, but he seems to improve every week. He was second on the Eagles this season with 6.5 sacks. But he’s on another level in the postseason with four sacks and a forced fumble in three games. He needs just one sack in the Super Bowl to tie Brandon Graham for the most playoff sacks in Eagles franchise history.
Whether Smith lines up against Joe Thuney or Jawaan Taylor he has the speed and moves to beat them. If he can create some havoc in the pocket life becomes a lot easier for Philly’s secondary. The Eagles can’t let Mahomes carve them up, and the need to create chaos in the pocket to do so.
Jaylen Watson
More likely than not the Chiefs are going to be loading the box to stop Saquon Barkley. Meaning Steve Spagnuolo’s defense will be running a lot of man coverage. Even with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Trent McDuffie can hold his own, making Jaylen Watson Kansas City’s defensive X-Factor.
Watson only played in 8 games this season, and was thought to have suffered a season ending injury. But he returned in the Divisional round against the Texans. He played 59% of the snaps against Houston, and played 71% of the snaps against Buffalo in the AFC Championship. With a week off it’s safe to assume Watson will get significant playing time on Sunday.
The Chiefs are going to force Jalen Hurts to beat them. If Watson isn’t 100% we could see Jalen Hurts repeat his Super Bowl 57 performance. Watson needs to contain either Smith or Brown. Watson has the ability to get it done, as he ranks 28th amongst all corners in coverage grade. But if he isn’t full go the Eagles may tear it up through the air.
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