From ‘Tush Push’ to Jalen Hurts, How Chiefs Plan to Overcome Their Biggest Challenges vs. Eagles

With the crucial Mini Bowl coming up tomorrow, the Kansas City Chiefs need to huddle up and plan how they are going to dominate the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. They may have beaten them earlier this year during the Super Bowl LVII, but the Eagles have a few tried and tested plays that they are going to leverage fully in this Super Bowl revenge game. One of those has a success rate of more than 90%!

For the Chiefs, this game will be important as the Eagles are on top of the league right now with their 8-1 score. The Chiefs are 7-2, and Monday’s victory will bump them to an equal record of 8-2 with the Eagles. What cards are the Chiefs hiding that they will use tomorrow?

The Chiefs will come prepared to neutralize the Eagles “Tush Push”

It’s like Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who knows a thousand kicks. I fear the man who practiced a single kick, a thousand times.” And the Eagles have mastered their “Tush Push” play. As the Kansas City Star reported, the Eagles have a 9 in 10 chance of finding success on such snaps.

The Eagles have also added variations to this play, the “Fake Tush Push,” to confound their opponents even more. We saw this in their Week 8 game against the Washington Commanders. The Chiefs are familiar with this. And it gave them many problems in the Super Bowl in February.

Philly ran the ball 6 times and picked up a first down or a touchdown by Jalen Hurts on each such play. Philadelphia opened their points table with Hurts plowing in from the 1-yard line and scoring a late TD on the same play in the game. How are the Chiefs planning to neutralize this technique?

Read More: What Has Changed for Chiefs & Eagles Since Last Year’s Super Bowl?

“That’s something we talked about after that game, over the offseason,” Joe Cullen, the defensive lines coach for the Chiefs told the Kansas City Star. “Just being able to get a little bit lower, do a few things that maybe will help it. … It’s about stopping it with leverage and people being able to get the quarterback. “The extra push, the second push, is really what gets you.” What about neutralizing an entire player?

The Chiefs’ masterplan to deal with Jalen Hurts

Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie said, “Even though we won, the defense didn’t show like we wanted to. A big part of this week is making sure we show what Chiefs defense is all about, and going out there and proving it.” For the Chiefs to be able to offset Jalen Hurts, they have been quietly building up their defense team. Last season, they were 16th in terms of points allowed and 11th in yards allowed. This season, they are tied for the 1st position in the fewest points allowed and 4th in yards allowed. Jalen Hurts better be aware!

Another big challenge will be dealing with the Eagles’ wideouts, DeVonta Smitha and A J Brown. They have a total of 109 receptions and 10 TDs this season. “Two really good cats who can go up and get the ball,” McDuffie said. “Jalen Hurts is going to get ‘em the ball. But we get excited for games like this, as you can see from the past few games.” Will the Chiefs manage to emerge victorious again with their new strategies?

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