RANT SPORTS

Eagles Protect the Ball

One of the main reasons the Philadelphia Eagles are playing in Sunday’s Super Bowl, outside of running back Saquon Barkley, has been their ability to protect the football.

In the Eagles three playoff wins over Green Bay, Los Angeles and Washington, the team did not commit a turnover. No fumbles. No interceptions. Nothing. 

It goes back further than just the postseason as well. 

Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had four interceptions in his first three games,  has not thrown an interception in nine consecutive games.  He has just one interception — in a 34-6 win over Dallas — in his last 15 games.

Barkley on 411 carries has lost just one fumble this season in a win over Jacksonville back on Nov. 3. Backup running back Kenneth Gainwell has not fumbled at all season.

“Yeah, first the players going out there and being able to do it is incredible because you’re taking chances at times, too,’’ Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “So we emphasize the crap out of it because we know it’s such a telling stat in this game. Our guys have done a nice job protecting it.’’

Eagles Takeaways Key Stat

On the other side of the ball the Eagles defense is forcing turnovers. Since their bye week they are a +27 in take away/give-away and in the postseason they are +12.

Again it’s the players,’’ Sirianni said. “When they go out there and execute that on the defensive side of the ball, that’s easier said than done. Just really proud of them of how they’ve been able to tackle well while also taking the football away. It’s something we emphasize an awful lot. We’ve always done a good job of emphasizing it on offense. I think this year we’ve taken another step and really emphasized it even more so this year as a defense. Every team meeting, we’re looking at ball security, any mistake that’s made in ball security. Every team meeting, we’re looking at good strip attempts or missed strip attempt opportunities.

“Our defensive guys have done a good job taking it away, as well as our special teams guys. You saw [RB] Will [Shipley] get one in the game as well. We drilled the heck out of it, but you’ve got to have talented players to be able to do both, because it is a skill to be able to tackle and take the ball away. And I think the other thing it shows is the effort to the football.’’

Not Just Another Joe 

Jalen Hurts has a chance to become just the third quarterback to win a national title in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL. Hurts won the national title with Alabama. 

The other two quarterbacks to do so were Joe Namath (Alabama/Jets) and Joe Montana (Notre Dame/49ers). 

Barkley’s Numbers 

Saquon Barkley could set two records Sunday. He needs just 30  yards to move past Denver’s Terrell Davis for the most yards rushing ever in a season (including playoffs). And he needs 169 yards to move ahead of Washington’s John Riggins for most yards in a postseason. 

Davis gained a total of 2,476 yards for the Broncos in 1998. Barkley is at 2,448 heading into Sunday, which is second most. 

Riggins ran for 610 playoff yards for Washington in 1982. Barkley, with 442, is in seventh place. 

After Riggins comes Davis (581 in 1997), Davis (468 in 1998), Marcus Allen (466 in 1983), Eddie George (449 in 1999) and Derrick Henry (446 in 2019).  

It wouldn’t take much for Barkley to at least move into third.

RANT SPORTS

Reid and Fangio Set to Meet Again

Andy Reid and Vic Fangio, two legendary NFL coaches, have had an interesting rivalry. over their storied careers.

The two will meet again on the biggest stage Sunday when Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the team’s play caller on offense, meets up with Fangio, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator in the Super Bowl.

If you’re looking at this Super Bowl as a bit of a chess match between these two coaches and the two on the other side of the ball as well — Philadelphia’s Kellen Moore and Kansas City’s Steve Spagnuolo — here’s a little insight.

Reid and Fangio have gone head-to-head 11 times over their long careers. The first time occurred in 2011 when Reid was head coach of the Eagles and Fangio was the DC for the San Francisco 49ers. Fangio and the 49ers prevailed, 24-23, in Philadelphia. 

Surprisingly that was the only time Reid faced a Fangio coordinated defense in his time with the Eagles. 

In his second year with the Chiefs, 2014, Reid faced Fangio and the 49ers again and lost again, 22-17. 

Fangio moved onto Chicago in 2015 and faced Reid and the Chiefs again and the Bears won that one, 18-17, making Fangio 3-0 against the KC head coach.

And that was Fangio’s last taste of success vs. Big Red. 

Long Run for Reid

Reid takes a personal eight-game win streak over Fangio into Sunday’s Super Bowl. From 2019-2021, Reid and the Chiefs beat Fangio and the Denver Broncos where Fangio was head coach six straight times. In those six games, Reid’s offense averaged 28 points per game against Fangio’s defense.

Then just a year ago when Fangio was the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator, Reid and the Chiefs won two more times against his defense. Kansas City beat Miami, 21-14, during the regular season and 26-7 in the playoffs. 

On the flip side, Moore, who calls the plays for the Eagles offense, just as he did for the Dallas Cowboys from 2019-22 and the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023, is 0-3 against Spagnuolo, the Chiefs heavy-blitzing defensive coordinator. In two of those three games, Moore’s offense failed to score a touchdown.

The first meeting came in 2021 when Kansas City beat Dallas, 19-9. The next two came a year ago when the Chiefs swept the Chargers, 13-12, and 31-17. 

What happens Sunday may be totally different, just know that in the past Reid and Spagnuolo have had the edge on Fangio and Moore. 

Second Best (For now)

This will be Andy Reid’s sixth Super Bowl appearance as a head coach (he went to one as an assistant in Green Bay as well). He’s 3-2 overall, 3-1 with KC and 0-1 with Philadelphia.  

Reid is tied with Don Shula, who also went to six Super Bowls (2-4, 0-1 with Baltimore, 2-3 with Miami). Both trail Bill Belichick’s nine Super Bowl appearances (6-3, all with New England).

This will be Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes fifth Super Bowl appearance, which ties him for second all-time with Denver’s John Elway. Tom Brady’s 10 appearances is No. 1.