There were only two NFL teams that ranked in the top seven for both points scored and points allowed this year. One was the favorite to win the Super Bowl heading into the playoffs but has since been eliminated. The other is the Philadelphia Eagles. With so much quality across the roster, the Eagles have multiple avenues to beat their opponents. Hopefully, there’s a clear plan in Philly, because no one in the media can agree on what the strategy should be for the Birds this Sunday against the Chiefs.
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After much prodding, Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow took his shot at trying to give this Eagles group some advice on how to beat the Kansas City juggernaut. The NFL’s 2024 passing leader (both in yards and TDs), who is one of just two QBs to best Patrick Mahomes in the postseason (along with Tom Brady), believes that you have to “be aggressive” and beat the Chiefs at their own high-flying game.
Burrow also stressed that Jalen Hurts and the Eagles’ offense can’t depend on the defense to slow down the Chiefs. The burden falls on the offense to execute, even if it means taking calculated risks, while also embracing the possibility of mistakes.
“You gotta go out and make plays, you’ve got to be aggressive. When you play any great QBs you can’t let the game come to you, you’ve got to come out and make plays because you know the other guy’s going to… It can’t be one of those games where you go out and let the defense do what they do, protect the ball, you can’t be afraid to go out and make mistakes,” Burrow said on First Take.
The strategy makes sense to an extent, but it might have worked better a few years ago when Burrow was going toe-to-toe with the Chiefs (he hasn’t been to the playoffs for the past two years). Back then, K.C., under OC Eric Bieniemy, was all about scoring and offense. But for the last two years, it’s been their defense that has carried them. They have only scored 30+ points twice in their last six playoff games.
Burrow’s view is also a bit confusing considering that, when his Bengals beat the Chiefs in the 2021 AFC Championship, it was not a high-scoring game. They won 27-24, and it was the Bengals’ defense paired with a safe approach from Zac Taylor that sealed the victory.
Mahomes threw two interceptions, which he has never done in any other non-Super Bowl playoff game, and they sacked him four times. Meanwhile, Taylor didn’t go for it on even one 4th down, settling for four field goals despite the fact that his team was down 21-3 at one point.
Just ask Josh Allen if going mano-a-mano with Mahomes’ Chiefs offensively has ever worked out for him. Unsurprisingly, Fox color commentator Greg Olsen, one of the shrewdest minds in the game right now, also believed the defense was Philly’s key.
Greg Olsen: Small details and defense will win the day for Eagles
There has been a lot of talk about “Saquon Barkley this” and “Jalen Hurts that”. But what about this stifling Birds defense? They were 2nd in scoring defense and 1st in total defense during the regular season. They were 1st in passing defense and still top 10 in rushing defense as well. They’re also 2nd in these playoffs in scoring defense, allowing just 18.3 points per game through three rounds.
Olsen explained that the Secondary is not only an advantage for Philly in and of itself, but it also allows them to run the ball as effectively as they do. The defensive unit is essentially in a symbiotic relationship with the offense’s rushing attack. Two aspects of the team that Philly should be leaning on.
“When you look at the ability to run the ball, it’s directly correlated to the ability to keep scoring. Saquon Barkley can run for all these yards, but it would be meaningless if they were playing from behind… Everything is, if this defense can have a great plan and they can hold Andy Reid and Mahomes and just keep the scoring down, it allows Philadelphia to play their style.”
Clearly, scoring a bunch of points, as Burrow suggested, is not how you beat the Chiefs. During the Mahomian era, Kansas City is 9-1 in the playoffs when they score 30+ points, with the lone exception being the 2018 AFC Championship against the Patriots, which went to overtime.
Meanwhile, they’re a more manageable 6-3 when their defense sacks Mahomes 3+ times, and an intriguing 1-2 when he throws multiple interceptions. They’re also just 4-2 when they score fewer than 25 points. If we were the Philadelphia Eagles, we’d be leaning much more toward Olsen’s strategy than Burrow’s here.
