New Orleans (AFP) – If there is one question that will define Sunday’s Super Bowl, it is this: can the Kansas City Chiefs stop the Philadelphia Eagles’ explosive running back Saquon Barkley? Signed from the New York Giants ahead of this season, Barkley has transformed the Eagles offense with his incredible power, speed, and technique. Barkley ran for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns with a 5.8-yard average in the regular season, and he has continued his devastating form in the playoffs—adding 477 total yards and five touchdowns. The involvement of the running back is the biggest difference since the two teams met in the Super Bowl two years ago—so do the Chiefs have a plan to stop him?
For Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, a three-time Super Bowl winner and six-time Pro Bowler, the idea of completely neutralizing Barkley isn’t realistic. “We’ve got to figure out a way to slow Saquon down. I don’t think we can totally stop him,” Jones said on Thursday. “He’s such a special player that I don’t think stopping him is an option. I think more so slowing him down and getting physical specimens up for it. Our first step is going to definitely have to set the tone of this game, the physicality,” he added.
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Linebacker Nick Bolton says it is going to require an intense effort to stop Barkley from delivering one of his game-changing performances. “We’ve got to put pressure on the football; he can break tackles, you understand? He’s got home-run speed, so we are going to need two or three guys on the football at all times,” he said. For Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, regarded as one of the very best tactical minds in the game, limiting Barkley’s impact requires a multi-faceted approach.
In the NFC Championship game, the Eagles steamrolled the Washington Commanders, with Barkley and mobile quarterback Jalen Hurts rushing for three touchdowns each as Philadelphia put up 229 yards on the ground in their 55-23 win. The ability of Hurts to run with the ball—as well as deliver passes to receivers like A.J. Brown—gives the Eagles offense real variety. “There’s a lot of teams now that we’ve faced with that, but this one’s elite in the fact that it’s the best running back in the league and probably the best running quarterback, or one of the best running quarterbacks,” said Spagnuolo.
“I mean, if you let an offense in any football game control the game by running the football, it’s not good for your guys defensively and it’s not good for the offense because they’re sitting on the sideline and the clock’s chewing. So, it’s going to begin with us trying to stop the running game, and hopefully if we can do that, then we can worry about the next thing,” he added. Spagnuolo says that his normal approach when looking at film of opponents is to look at potential weak points in players’ techniques or habits, as well as examining the offensive scheme.
“Right now it begins with the scheme part of it and then we look at the offensive line and where we think there may or may not be a weakness. This offensive line doesn’t have a weakness. Right. They play so well in unison, I think, with their offensive line. It’s going to come down to fundamentals defensively,” he said. Those fundamentals need to be executed perfectly if the Chiefs are to limit the impact of a man who has ripped apart lesser teams. “We always talk about build the wall, set the edge, and track the hip. And we’re going to have to do that on every play in order to be successful against this guy,” Spagnuolo said.
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