PHOENIX — The quarterbacks get all the attention, but Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on Thursday didn’t identify Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts as the keys to Super Bowl 57.
Rather, he pointed to the most basic — but important — matchup in football.
“When you get in the playoffs, the combination right there — the offensive lines vs. defensive lines on both teams — ends up being the things that wins or loses games,” Reid said in his final news conference before the Super Bowl.
“It’s magnified every step you move up. In the Super Bowl, it’ll be magnified the most between those two. Normally who wins that battle ends up winning the game. That’s what you’ll see.”
Andy Reid on Key Super Bowl 57 Matchup
So who has the edge? It’s hard to say — but on paper, we lean toward the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia has perhaps the best all-around offensive and defensive lines in football. They have by far the better — and deeper — defensive front.
Jonathan Gannon’s group had an astonishing 70 sacks in 2022, with an NFL-record four players (Haason Reddick, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham) finishing with 10 or more.
“The [Eagles’] defensive line is arguably the best in the game this year and a big reason why they’re here in the Super Bowl,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “It’s going to be a big task. … We’re all pretty locked in on the task at hand. We know it’s going to be a challenge. They’ve got some real dogs up front.”
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Philly also has an offensive line that ranked second in run-block win rate (75%), and while the pass protection could be better, it’s also far from a liability.
But none of this should be taken to mean that the Chiefs are slouches. Far from. They have arguably the NFL’s most complete defensive lineman in Chris Jones and a star-studded offensive line that ranked first in pass-block win rate during the regular season.
In that way, the Chiefs are much better than they were the last time they appeared in the Super Bowl. The Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55 hit Mahomes nine times — completely throwing Kansas City’s offense out of whack.
K.C. GM Brett Veach spent the last 24 months making sure that if (when) the Chiefs returned to this game, history would not repeat itself.
Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith are all new to the offensive line since the Chiefs were last in the Super Bowl.
“Protection ends up being the issue,” Reid said Thursday. “You want to be able to have a mix of things in there you can do. If you get behind and you have to throw the ball every down, that’s never good. They’ve got that good defensive front. Creed has helped us in the middle. He’s a smart kid. He’s big, athletic, and tough, and he loves to play the game. That’s been a real solid position for us.”