Eagles' Key Matchups vs. Chiefs in Super Bowl 57

The Philadelphia Eagles locked up their first Super Bowl trip since 2017 with a 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Now they'll have to overcome a familiar face to add another Lombardi Trophy to their resume.

The Eagles have breezed through the playoffs to this point. They have beaten the Giants and Niners in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 69-14, showcasing one of the league's most talented and deep rosters.

There's a good case to be made that the Chiefs will be a much bigger step up in competition, though. The Giants were arguably a year ahead of schedule in Brian Daboll's first campaign, and the Niners were left with Josh Johnson and an injured Brock Purdy playing quarterback.

That shouldn't take away from what the Eagles have done. They should have been dominant under those circumstances, and they were.

But beating the Chiefs to win the title presents new challenges. Winning these three matchups will go a long way in ensuring they keep the good times rolling and earn another championship.

Pass Rush vs. Patrick Mahomes

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Haason Reddick has been a game-changer for the Eagles pass rush.

The Eagles have proved they have the roster and depth to win a game without Jalen Hurts playing incredibly well. In truth, Hurts hasn't had to be elite in their first two playoff games. He has just 275 yards and two touchdowns.

By comparison, Mahomes had 326 passing yards and two touchdowns in the AFC Championship game alone.

That isn't necessarily a knock on Hurts. He's made timely plays and hasn't been put in a position where he has to produce in two blowouts.

The point is that if the Eagles find a way to slow Hurts, the Eagles can still win. It's much harder to say the same for Kansas City. Armed with the best pass-rush in the game, the Eagles defensive front is going to be a huge factor.

The Eagles had 70 sacks in the regular season, topping the Chiefs—who were second in the league—by 15 sacks on the season. They had four pass-rushers with at least 11 sacks and depth behind those players who would start for plenty of teams across the league.

Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Javon Hargrave's ability to collapse the pocket and finish plays is going to be critical.

Despite playing on a high ankle sprain Patrick Mahomes completed all of his passes outside the pocket, on the run and on extended plays, according to Next Gen Stats.

Their ability to turn those plays into negative ones is going to be a huge factor.

Linebackers and Safeties vs. Travis Kelce

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T.J. Edwards covers Juwan Johnson earlier this year.

Travis Kelce has long been an integral part of the Chiefs passing attack, but without Tyreek Hill he has become the unquestioned cornerstone.

His chemistry with Patrick Mahomes and ability to adjust to coverages on the fly make him a unique weapon. It's also a reason why he has the third-largest target share in the league. That's not the fourth-highest among tight ends, either. It's out of the whole league.

The Chiefs have other good weapons. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marques Valdez-Scantling and even Kadarius Toney are all solid in the context of their roles. But Kelce is the only elite receiver in Mahomes' arsenal.

Slowing down the Chiefs is all about making them go to Plan B. That means doing what they can to take away Kelce, and that will primarily fall on defenders like Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps.

Jonathan Gannon has proved himself as a strong defensive mind, so the Eagles will certainly get creative at times. Ultimately, those players will have to play exceptionally well to at least force difficult throws to Kelce.

The Eagles have done a good job of covering tight ends all season. Zach Ertz's six catches for 48 yards, Chigoziem Okonkwo's four catches for 68 yards and Juwan Johnson's five for 62 are the only notable tight end performances against them all season.

But Kelce is obviously a different beast than those names. This is the biggest test the Eagles defense is going to have to face.

Offensive Line vs. Chris Jones

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Chris Jones is a threat to a great Eagles offensive line.

The Eagles have a historically good pass rush, but the Chiefs' own defensive front can't be shrugged off. After all, they were second in the league in sacks with 55.

Specifically, Chris Jones poses a threat, even against an Eagles offensive line that features Jason Kelce, Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo on the interior. All three of those players were ranked in the top 16 of their position by PFF, but Jones was their top-ranked interior defender.

All it takes is to turn on the film from the AFC Championship Game to see what he's capable of. The Bengals had no answer for him, and he ran roughshod with two sacks, three tackles for loss and five quarterback hits by himself.

The Chiefs aren't afraid to move him all over the line of scrimmage, which means the Eagles are going to have to communicate up front and have a plan wherever he lines up.

Kansas City's edge rushers can't be ignored. Frank Clark had 1.5 sacks and a tackle for loss of his own against the Bengals.

But Jones' ability to get instant penetration on the interior is the kind of thing that can wreck any given play.

He's one defender who could singlehandedly change the complexion of the game.