We are just two days away from NFL Championship Sunday, and as the saying goes, “defense wins championships.”
Let’s get right into it. Here’s what to expect from all four defenses this Sunday.
Philadelphia Eagles
As stated in our last article, Jayden Daniels is elite against the blitz, which, in theory, means the Eagles should primarily rely on their front four to create pressure.
And that’s exactly what the Eagles did back in Week 16 when they played the Commanders: force Daniels to throw into tighter windows.
On this play, two Eagles defenders converge on the intended target, Luke McCaffery, making it a tighter window for Daniels to throw into. The deep safety, CJ Gardner-Johnson, intercepts the overthrow.
Next, the Eagles send Nakobe Dean (#17) to pass rush five yards off the ball, which catches Daniels off guard and causes him to bail out of the pocket early.
Daniels forces a throw into Darius Slay’s direction, and with the numbers (7) of defenders in coverage, there’s a higher chance of an interception on the deflection, and that’s exactly what Reed Blankenship came up with.
That’s two interceptions the Eagles came up with while rushing four.
Washington Commanders
Part of the Commanders’ playoff success has been their optimistic defense.
Their playoff opponents’ rushing stats:
- WC: Tampa Bay – 149 yards per game (4th)
- DV: Detroit – 146 yards per game (6th)
- NFCCG: Philadelphia 179 yards per game (2nd)
In the Wild Card Round, the Commanders’ run defense limited only 101 rushing yards to Tampa Bay.
Despite surrendering 201 rushing yards to the Lions in the Divisional Round, the Commanders won the game by forcing turnovers.
They had seven interceptions in the regular season and intercepted Detroit four times on Saturday.
This play swung momentum for Washington. With eight defenders in zone coverage, the underneath defenders’ presence helped force an overthrow, and Mike Sainristil went back the other way for a pick-six.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs defense were third in scoring defense (18.9). The Bills know they have to match the Chiefs with touchdowns.
So, the Chiefs can play a bend-but-don’t-break defense.
This is from their 2022 regular-season matchup. The Chiefs defense had been on the field for 11 plays and surrendered 72 yards.
On fourth and goal, the Chiefs bend and do not break as Nick Bolton deflects a pass to keep the Bills out of the end zone.
Buffalo Bills
The biggest key for Buffalo is using a quarterback spy on Mahomes because he’s so dangerous out of the pocket.
Here’s a play from a Bills-Chiefs matchup in 2022.
Buffalo is in Cover 2, where the safeties keep the play in front of them.
Matt Milano (#58) is the spy. It’s a great strategy by Buffalo because Milano does not engage with an offensive lineman.
So when Mahomes bails out of the pocket, Milano has a free lane to Mahomes to create pressure, and Taron Johnson comes up with an interception.
The best of the best are set to dual on Sunday with history on the line. And the cool thing about it? No matter who wins, history will be made.
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