The Kansas City Chiefs will be facing off a similar opponent in Super Bowl LIX. The Chiefs will be facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles. It is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs won that Super Bowl in a close battle that was a thriller. Now the Eagles are looking to get their revenge, but the Chiefs are trying to do something that has never been done before in NFL history.
Each team has its star players. For the Chiefs it is quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones.
For the Eagles you have quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley, wide receiver A.J. Brown, defensive tackle Jalen Carter and linebacker Zack Baun.
What know what those star players bring to the table and what their teams will get out of them. But can the role players be the difference in Super Bowl LIX?
“The Eagles have to respect the speed of receivers Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown and know all too well from their last Super Bowl matchup with the Chiefs that JuJu Smith-Schuster is a crafty wideout capable of making backbreaking plays in critical moments,” said ESPN Staff Write Tim McManus. “He had seven catches for 53 yards in that game, and drew a holding call on cornerback James Bradberry in the closing moments that helped seal the win for Kansas City.”
Coach Andy Reid for one. They saw his play-design prowess first-hand for 14 seasons when he was the head man in Philly, and got diced up by it pretty good in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs to end the ’22 campaign.
“The defense goes into every game confident with Fangio at the helm. Mahomes, though, is 8-0 as a starter when opposing Fangio as a head coach or coordinator, including playoffs. Their last meeting came in last year’s AFC Wild Card game against the Dolphins, which the Chiefs won 26-7.”
“The Eagles have been stout against the run this season — they ranked 5th in that department during the regular season (105.7 yards per game) — and will have to continue to be sure tacklers against rugged backs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. ”
The role players must show up for both teams to have a chance at winning this Super Bowl.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/ as Can Kansas City Chiefs Role Players Make a Difference in Super Bowl LIX?.