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Top Rushing Matchup

Philadelphia vs Kansas City

The Eagles boast one of the league’s best-rushing attacks this season, as they were fifth on the season in rushing yards. So far this playoffs, the Eagles have heavily utilized their rushing attack in two comfortable wins as they dominated both the 49ers and the Giants, rushing for an average of 209 yards per game. Many are going to look at the running back carry distribution over the last two games and attempt to project this out toward the Super Bowl this week, as Kenneth Gainwell is averaging 13 carries over the last two games compared to Miles Sanders, who is averaging 14 carries. But don’t be fooled this is Miles Sanders’ offense. Last week, Sanders had just one carry in the second half, which was the first play of the half, at which point they pulled him for Gainwell and, ultimately, Boston Scott as the Eagles comfortably cruised to victory. Sanders will be the primary back, with both Gainwell and Scott playing complimentary roles behind the league’s best offensive line led by center Jason Kelce and elite tackles in Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson.

Statistically, Kansas City’s run defense has been a bright spot this season, but that doesn’t paint the full picture. While they are by no means a perfect unit, this is a team that allowed just 81 yards on the season which is the eighth-best in the league. The success that the Chiefs have had is really a few different factors. The biggest factor is likely game script as the Chiefs have faced the third-fewest rushing attempts this season, which is likely due to a combination of the Chiefs scoring the second-most first-half points on the season with 15.5 points per game, combined with a porous pass defense for most of the season. However, this is a defense that does have talent as Chris Jones continues to play at an All-Pro level along the defensive line, Nick Bolton has developed into a solid run-stopping linebacker, while the safeties in Justin Reid and Juan Thornhill are adequate run-stoppers. When teams have committed to the run, they have had success against the Chiefs. In the eight games in which running backs have 17 or more carries, the Chiefs have allowed 70 or more yards to seven of them and over 100 yards to four. Look for the Eagles to start the game with a run-heavy approach and put this run defense to the test. This is by no means a bad defense, but it is closer to league average than it is to a difficult run-stopping matchup.