Super Bowl LVII Recap: Eagles Offense vs. Chiefs Defense
You can’t really say that the Chiefs defense had a good game. After all, they allowed 35 points, which is the most by a winning team in the history of the Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts was spectacular and picked them apart for 4 quarters. Yet K.C.’s defense does deserve some credit for the win. They not only got a touchdown of their own, but they generated a few key stops in the second half that ended up being the difference in the game.
Limiting the Eagles’ Rushing Attack
The best thing Kansas City did was slow down the Eagles’ run game. Philadelphia finished with just 115 yards on 32 carries (3.6 yards per carry). Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s plan was a good one, and K.C.’s success likely led to the Eagles abandoning the run in a few critical moments during the second half (more on that below).
So what did the Chiefs do to give Philadelphia trouble?
It was really a combination of factors. The key was that they gave the Eagles a variety of looks. They used multiple fronts. They brought run blitzes from different places. The used disguise and moved a lot at the snap. Overall, they muddied the reads for Hurts on the Eagles’ staple RPO’s and read-options. And that kept Philly’s rushing attack from firing on all cylinders.
You could see the disguise right from the first play of the game. Watch K.C. spin out into a 2-deep coverage right at the snap and bring an extra defender from the back side on a blitz:
Another look from the end zone angle shows how the Chiefs had all bases covered. First, the right side of the D-line slanted to the left in the direction of running back Miles Sanders’ path, closing off the inside to him:
To the left, Chris Jones did a great job of controlling his blocker and holding the inside of his gap to try and spill Sanders to the edge. Frank Clark also did a good job of controlling his blocker and initially staying to the outside as the force player:
It Hurts did pull it, there also would have been two defenders waiting on the backside for him:
Sanders would eventually bounce it after finding nowhere to go between the tackles. While Clark eventually got sucked inside allowing Sanders to bounce, he would still end up a yard deep in the backfield, forcing a longer path to the perimeter for Sanders. The rest of the defense then had time to pursue for a 1-yard loss:
Here’s another example of how the Chiefs effectively responded to the Eagles’ run and option game.
Philly aligned in a 2x2 double-stack formation, one that they love to use:
The idea with this formation is to stress the slot defenders, putting them into conflict between helping out on the run or defending the two-receiver sets to their side.
Spagnuolo responded by aligning both defenders right smack in the middle between the stacks and the offensive line:
The alignment also gave the Chiefs 3-on-2’s to both sides if Hurts did decide to throw:
Both slot defenders then played this well by not committing after the snap until the last possible moment, once it was clear that this would be a run. Hurts didn’t have a clearly defined read as a result:
The other element to this play was the run front. Notice all 4 Chiefs D-linemen aligned between the tackles clogging any potential running lanes for Sanders if Hurts gave him the ball, making it an unattractive option:
Linebacker Nick Bolton (#32) in the middle was also waiting to scrape over the top if Hurts did keep it:
No matter what Hurts chose, this play was completely bottled up.
The Chiefs used plenty of other tactics throughout the game. Here they overloaded the strong side with 6 defenders and then brought a corner blitz from the back side to remove any cutback possibilities: