8 stats to get you ready for the Super Bowl: Can Patrick Mahomes find success targeting Travis Kelce in the slot?

Travis Kelsey has 743 slot yards this season and has been targeted for 44% of his snaps.

The Eagles have a ridiculous pair of cornerbacks. Darius Slay And James Bradbury. It’s just unfair that these guys are working against an elite pass rush background. The Eagles were one of the tightest quarterbacks in the NFL when shutting down production for third-party receivers.

Philadelphia was more exploited in the slot. Even with inside corner Avonte Maddox almost fully recovered, this should be what the Chiefs are looking to attack.

Travis Kelsey it is the center of the passing universe of the chiefs; more than usual this year, given the state of their reception area.

Kansas City has a lot of positional flexibility with Kelsey. He can work as a traditional tight end, but it’s no surprise that he lines up as the team’s only receiver on X in a three-on-one setup. However, it would make sense for him to see a ton of slots in this matchup and have him lay routes in the areas that give the Eagles defense the most trouble.

Kelsey didn’t wreck a huge postseason game. He averages just 8.4 yards per catch on a whopping 25 targets; looks approaching only in a short area right now. But it’s still a big factor in Kansas City’s steady pace of the ball. Patrick Mahomes and Co. were able to find pieces with fragments elsewhere.

I love how Kelse insists on double digit catches for another week, with most of it coming from the slot.

Patrick Mahomes had a TD to INT ratio of 26:2 against the men’s cover.

The Eagles, like most NFL players, are a zone defense. Typically, they only report on a quarter of their passing snaps.

Patrick Mahomes just popped up this season. It was incredibly impressive because none of his life-outs are high level riders. At the beginning of the season, the defense was leaning towards simply embedding themselves on this new body of receivers and letting the cards fall.

I would give the Eagles’ corners a significant advantage over the Chiefs’ long-range in personal situations. However, this year Mahomes has shown incredible ball placement. His accuracy was almost emphasized more when he limped with an ankle injury in the postseason. The improvisational magic is amazing, but his real prowess is in the traditional passing.

Even if the windows are tightly closed on Sunday, Mahomes can fit the ball in even a small piece of space for his receivers.

Isaiah Pacheco has run more routes than Jerick McKinnon in the playoffs.

The gap is close at 37 to 35. However, Pacheco has had a significant and consistent increase in his chances, with six catches for 65 yards in two games.

McKinnon played a huge role in last year’s postseason. He was clearly the most reliable player in the backfield, especially in passing. Not this year. Pacheco still has some shaky moments on pass defense, but he has racked up reps in aerial play over the proven veteran no matter what.

My theory as to why this happened goes back to Mahomes. When a star quarterback limps, he’s not likely to climb or, of course, run as often as he usually does. He is more prone to checkdown. Pacheco, on the other end of these checks, offers a little more popularity.

He’s too far off the pecking order to be a Super Bowl MVP dark horse or anything like that. However, I bet he will walk away with one or two explosive traps that will end up with a significant win.

Kadarius Toni was the only Chiefs WR to average over 1.8 yards per route this season.

Tony is 2.2 yards per run on the route and he doesn’t even run on the field, the “real” routes. Instead, he got a lot of targets for downtime in the apartment, screen passes or other gadgets. Tony was a full member of practice this week and should be ready to play that role in the Super Bowl.

Let’s see if any other leaders rise.

Juju Smith-Shusterthe support at the receiving site hovered around 37.5 all week. Considering what we noted above about the Eagles’ solid exterior lighting, JuJu should be in line for some lucrative production as a slot manager. When he is healthy, he remains their most consistent player in the high floors. He’s not going to take over the game, but I can easily see him get to 50 yards.

Chris Jones is second in the NFL with 59 quarterbacks

In the postseason alone, the star guard had 16 pressures. The Eagles offensive line will be occupied by Jones, whether he lines up inside or outside.

I have been in Radio Row for the last three days. On the right wall hangs a banner with four players. You will see Jalen Hurts And Jason Kelsey represents eagles. Patrick Mahomes is with the Chiefs and the other guy is Juju Smith-Shuster. With all due respect to the recipient, I’ve been puzzling over why Jones isn’t another Chiefs player upstairs.

My conclusion is that he is still somehow underappreciated in the national spotlight, an elite player but not a famous one. Given the way he’s playing right now, that could change. We could see a Super Bowl performance that will cement his legacy, especially if it clashes with the Eagles’ solid line and their worthy center banner.

The Eagles lead the NFL in terms of non-blitz drop pressure.

The Chiefs have the aforementioned Chris Jones and are second in the NFL for pressure. The Eagles have a number of great pass rushers and lead the league in terms of statistics by a wide margin.

Kansas City successfully rebuilt their offensive line after a disastrous performance in their last Super Bowl appearance. I would still say that they are more reliable on the inside than on the outside. Like Jones, Haason Reddick not known, but he enjoys a Defensive Player of the Year type season.

Reddick and the other extreme rushers will play a key role in getting Mahomes out of the way. Mahomes would benefit from an extra week off, but the longer the AFC Championship game went on, the more he worried about the injury. In this game, the pressure will affect him more than usual. There is no doubt that the Eagles are a poor match for this.

Jalen Hurts ranked second in adjusted yards per attempted shot among players in a wide line.

Chiefs are some of the most aggressive players and defensive players in the NFL. While most of the league played softer in the back and moved to zone coverage, the Chiefs zigzag when everyone else zigzag.

It would be unwise to use this plan against the Eagles’ pass catchers. Frankly, that would be an invitation to failure.

DeVonta Smith a flawless route runner and a specialist in beating people up. He can reveal himself at any level of the pitch and has been as productive as ever. AJ Brown recently.

Brown is one of the best receivers in the game. You try to pressure him, you often fail. Many of the teams that tried these receivers this year paid the price with Brown and Jalen Hurts. connection on the balls.

Dallas Goedert was the most effective tight end this year on screen passes, another tried and true man beating game. And let’s not forget the threat of Hurts as a rusher if all the defense turns their backs on him.

We’ve seen Steve Spanulo get down to business and come up with unique game plans in major competitions to deter certain infractions. This must be one of those moments. In relative terms, Hurts struggled when teams warmed him up and sat idly by in the coverage area. This could be part of the Chiefs’ plan.

The Philadelphia Eagles lead the NFL in second line yards (1.45) according to the Football Outsiders.

Without a doubt, this is my favorite Eagles statistic of 2022. It so perfectly embodies what makes this game in Philadelphia so special. Miles Sanders and Co. bring energy to the backfield, and Hurts is a dynamic quarterback runner. The detail and athleticism of their offensive line are the real engines of the game on the ground.

Jason Kelsey just a special player on the second level. Even at this stage in his career, he displays unrivaled popularity and athleticism in space. He remains a unique player who makes a difference in pin-drawing games.

Tackle Lane Johnson And Jordan Mailata are also marvels of athleticism. Resilient offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland trains these guys and destroys linebackers and defensemen in a running game. Turn on the Eagles run movie and you’ll see why Stoutland has endured numerous regime changes in Philadelphia.

If you love football, watching it is a pleasure.

If the Chiefs fall behind early, they know Mahomes can get them back in the game. Eagles rightfully believe in Hurts, but are much more destructive when played with the lead. If this running game goes well, they can secure that early lead.

Philadelphia is a team that can be confident enough to throw away any match data in their game. We saw them essentially do just that in an NFC championship game against the 49ers’ elite defense. They will have every reason to do it again in the Super Bowl.