[DenverChief]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

It all comes back to the trenches.

Can our OL hold up long enough for Pat to operate the offense?

Can our DL both blunt their running attack and generate enough pressure to force Hurts into making mistakes?

The second issue is the crux, imo. That's two jobs the DL has to dominate long enough to have the effect we need to win. They have to first stop the PHI running attack well enough to make them pass the ball; basically get them to 3rd and long consistently.

And then they have to beat that OL in the passing game and generate enough pressure to force some mistakes.

If our DL can accomplish those two things, the Chiefs win. But that's a really tall task. Our DL is pretty good at stopping the run situationally, say for a series or two, or even for a quarter but they aren't a run-stopping defense by design. The defense is designed to prevent opposing teams from passing effectively down the stretch when the Chiefs are trying to hold into a lead.

And yeah, KC did very well vs. CIN, but their OL was 3/5ths backups or injured, which is not the situation facing them in the SB. That's the best OL in football and they're healthy. Going to need huge games from both CJ and FC, and probably at least one other DL, for 60 minutes.

But if they can do those two things, the Chiefs are more than capable of beating the Eagles. Hurts is like 25th when pressured. He was the 7th most sacked QB in 2022, so he's holding the ball too long on a regular basis. Probably isn't processing that quickly, and isn't the most situationally aware QB at this point of his career. These are issues that the Chiefs can take advantage of, if the DL can do both of those things stated above.

I think we will see big days from Jones/Clark/Saunders and Danna against Philly. I think stopping their run game is gonna come down to how much Gay and Bolton can stay disciplined to the line and keep them from getting more than 3 YPC as well as getting good run support from the secondary