What concerns Kansas City Chiefs most against Eagles running back Saquon Barkley?
In 2021, then-New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley suffered an ankle sprain that forced him to miss the next few games, including a “Monday Night Football” contest against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In seven NFL seasons, that’s the only time a Barkley team was scheduled to meet the Chiefs. He’s played against the 31 other teams. Barring something bizarre, that will change Sunday when Barkley’s Philadelphia Eagles meet the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs defensive coordinator charged with slowing the running back who rushed for 2,005 yards in the regular season and is rampaging through the playoffs, understands the challenge.
“He’s pretty elite,” Spagnuolo said. “There isn’t anything he can’t do.”
In the NFC Championship Game against the Washington Commanders, Barkley took the Eagles’ first snap 60 yards for a touchdown.
A week earlier in the Divisional Round triumph over the L.A. Rams, Barkley’s 78-yard touchdown run provided a two-score cushion in the fourth quarter.
“He’s going to be the toughest challenge we’ve had in the run game this year,” Spagnuolo said.
The Chiefs have had a few ... and stepped up on most occasions. No opposing running back has rushed for 100 yards in a game, and Kansas City ranked ninth in the NFL against the run, surrendering 104.4 yards per contest.
But some opponents recently have had success. Buffalo’s James Cook rushed for 85 yards and 6.5 yards per carry in the AFC Championship Game. Joe Mixon collected 88 yards for the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round.
In the Week 17 victory at Pittsburgh, the Chiefs surrendered a season-high 202 rushing yards. And two games earlier, the Browns’ Jerome Ford rushed for a 62-yard touchdown, the longest run against the Chiefs this season.
Barkley and the Eagles attack takes the task of defending the run to another level. The Chiefs, a solid tackling team, will be tested, especially at linebacker and safety.
“The thing we always talk about (is) building it, setting it and tracking it,” Spagnuolo said. “Building a wall, setting an edge and tracking the hip. The tracking the hip part is really important, because Saquon can stick his foot in the ground and cut back. He has cut all the way back, and that is when he has made those big runs.”
Complicating matters for a defense is the running ability of quarterback Jalen Hurts, and not only when he’s being shoved on the Eagles’ short-yardage “tush push.” Hurts rushed for 630 yards this season and led the team with 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Spagnuolo and the Chiefs are well aware of Hurts’ ability after he rushed for three touchdowns, a two-point conversion and passed for a touchdown in the Chiefs’ victory over Philadelphia in Super Bowl LVII.
But even though Cook had a big game rushing against the Chiefs last week, quarterback Josh Allen didn’t. He went 2-for-5 on Buffalo’s “snow plow” push play. The team had been 20-for-21 on such occasions before then.
No team has run the short-yardage push play as successfully as the Eagles.
“I think the Eagles have perfected this over two or three years,” Spagnuolo said. “That offensive line is built. They could probably take the offensive line and win some rugby tournaments. They are that big and physical.
“I was real proud of the way the guys defended those particular plays against Buffalo last week. This is probably a whole different challenge (in the Super Bowl).”