Both the Eagles and Chiefs have strong defenses, but which is stronger? How do they match up at each ket position?
Coaching
Steve Spagnuola (Chiefs) and Vic Fangio (Eagles) are two of the best at what they do, create defensive schemes and have good player discipline. Steve Spagnuola is highly regarded as the best defensive coordinator in the NFL due to his signature complex blitzing schemes, while Vic Fangio incorporates a completely opposite approach full of zone coverage and 3-4 defense to prevent big plays. I give the advantage to Spagnuola in having his defense prepared, he has a perfect feel for the game flow and when to blitz and when not to as we saw on the crucial 4th and 5 in the AFC Championship.
Defensive Line
Each team runs a different personnel grouping and are constantly moving their players around on the line, these two groups are the strong suit of each defense in my opinion. Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Noah Smith have all been massive in the playoffs so far with both stuffing the run and getting to the quarterback. The Eagles have had injuries to important depth pieces like Brandon Graham and Byron Young, but they are still one of the NFL’s strongest units. The Chiefs have much more depth than the Eagles, with great players all over, like Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, Tershawn Wharton, and Derrick Nnadi, who have all been great players this season. I like the Chiefs ever so slightly more on the Defensive line due to their gap discipline and elite blitz designs by Steve Spagnuola.
Linebackers
Zach Baun has been arguably the best linebacker in the entire NFL this season, he had a big play in the NFC championship with a forced fumble, however similar to the defensive line the Chiefs have more depth, Nakobe Dean being out is huge for the Eagles. The Chiefs have 3 really solid linebackers with Leo Chenal, Nick Bolton, and Drue Tranquill. This is another example of the Chiefs defense being built for depth and to be disciplined and play hard with sure tackling, that is why I like the Chiefs linebacker room more than the Eagles.
Cornerbacks
Both Secondaries are very good, The Eagles have both elite corners and Safeties, an all time great corner in Darius Slay being paired with young corner Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean create a fast corner room who tackles well and has extra depth pieces to hold the fort down if they need to. The Chiefs have a Lockdown cornerback 1 with Trent McDuffie, who has been elite all season long and was a big reason for the Chiefs Super Bowl win last year. They also have Jaylen Watso,n who has just returned from injury and is ready to leave it on the field. Despite having 2 great corners, I trust the Eagles veteran leadership combined with the youth of 2 freak athletes in the big game.
Safeties
The Eagles are simply better when it comes to safeties, C.J. Gardner Johnson and Reed Blankenship are two tough guys to hold down the deep parts of the field while still coming up and leaving their mark on receivers and tight ends. Justin Reid is still a great player, but his counterpart in Bryan Cook is not near as good as either of Blankenship or Gardner Johnson. The Eagles have a great secondary that is maybe the best in the league, the Chiefs stack up well but they do not meet the physicality that the Eagles do.
