The Kansas City Chiefs are already deep into their game preparation for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts poses a unique challenge for Kansas City as a dual threat. Not only is he a talented passer, but Hurts finished fourth in the league this season in rushing yards (760) and first in the league in rushing touchdowns (13) among quarterbacks. It’s a challenging type of quarterback for the Chiefs to face and a type they haven’t faced often this season. In fact, only two quarterbacks they played against this season (Josh Allen and Trevor Lawrence) finished in the top 10 in the NFL in rushing and passing yards.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Chiefs second-year LB Nick Bolton was asked about what he’s seen from Hurts as a dual threat.
“I think he does a great job of trying to help extend plays, his eyes are downfield still (and he’s) trying to throw the ball to his wideouts, they come back to the ball a lot to give him a chance on scrambles,” Bolton said. “Also, he knows when to pull the ball (or) give the ball in zone-read football, test the perimeter, (and) again, putting a lot of pressure on the D-ends and our perimeter guys to make tackles out in space.”
Similarly to Mahomes, Hurts does a good job of using his legs to extend the play and keep his eyes downfield looking for targets. It’s when he takes off and runs that he can be particularly deadly.
What can be a serious boon to Philadelphia is catching the Kansas City defense off guard with the read-option plays. As Bolton says, it’s going to put pressure on the perimeter defenders. The Chiefs will need to stay disciplined in their run defense on the perimeter and the linebackers will need to maintain gap integrity. If they don’t, things could get ugly for the defense quickly.
