5 Things to Know About Alabama Players in Super Bowl LVII: Bama in the NFL

The key matchup to watch between the Eagles and Chiefs is the obvious one, and includes former Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Feb 9, 2023 11:00 AM EST

In this story:

Alabama Crimson Tide

It's the final football game of the 2022-23 season, college or pro, and four former Alabama Crimson Tide players have a chance to win their first Super Bowl.

Jalen Hurts, Landon Dickerson, DeVonta Smith and Josh Jobe all play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

All are just 24 years old, too.

Here's five things to watch for when Eagles and Chiefs meet in Super Bowl LVII in Arizona:

1) The Matchup of Matchups

It's obvious the quarterbacks, Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, and not just because they led their teams to the top seeding in each conference, and then through two playoff games.

• It's the first time two Black quarterbacks have started against each other in the Super Bowl.

• They're the first- and second-team All-Pro quarterbacks, and they might finish that way in MVP voting. It's only the sixth time in the Super Bowl era that the top two met in the Super Bowl.

• Mahomes is only 27 years old. Hurts is 24.

Although both can run, Hurts relies on it more, and both teams teams reflect that statistically. Mahomes threw for more yards and touchdowns (5,250 and 41 in two more games compared to 3,701 and 22, respectively), bit their completion percentages and passer ratings were almost identical during the regular season.

The Chiefs are first in the NFL, averaging 413.6 yards of offense per game, including 297.8 yards in the air. The Eagles' pass defense leads the league at giving up just 179.8 yards/game.

The Eagles like to run more on offense. In the two playoff games they've had seven rushing touchdowns compared to just two in the air. Hurts finished the regular season with 13 rushing touchdowns.

The former second-round draft pick went 14–1 as a starter this year, and dominated its two playoff games, beating the short-handed 49ers and Giants by a combined 55 points. So Hurts didn't have to throw as much as usual against either team, and didn't have a pass intercepted.

It might be the key to the game, as the Kansas City defense has allowed a league-high 35 passing touchdowns to quarterbacks.

In his three seasons in Philadelphia, Hurts has posted a 23–11 regular-season record in 34 starts, completing 648 of 1,040 passes for 7,906 yards and 44 touchdowns. In his three career playoff appearances thus far, he's 2-1, going 54 of 92 for 533 passing yards and three touchdowns.

2) Will Landon Dickerson Play?

It looks like it. Although Dickerson suffered an elbow issue during the NFC Championship Game, he was listed as a full participant during Wednesday's practice.

Considering he wasn't able to participate in the 2021 National Championship Game for Alabama minus the coin flip and the victory-formation snap, we're guessing it would take something extreme to keep Dickerson from playing.

3) Could DeVonta Smith be the Key?

To elaborate a little more on the matchup of the Eagles passing game vs. the Chiefs secondary, Kansas City ranked 20th in pass defense and it allowed the 19th-most receiving yards to opponents.

The Chiefs have done better in creating turnovers in the playoffs, but they rely heavily on rookies on the back end with Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams, Brian Cook, and Jaylen Watson. L'Jarius Sneed suffered a concussion during the AFC Championship Game, but he is cleared to play in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs rely

In one career game against Kansas City, Smith tallied seven catches for 122 yards as a rookie last season.

4) Special Teams

There have been so many good storylines with this game, including the Andy Reid Bowl and the Kelce brothers squaring off, that there hasn't been much talk about special teams other than no one would be surprised to see the Super Bowl decided by a kicker.

The Eagles are favored by 1.5 points.

There are plenty of examples of special teams playing a big part in deciding a championship, and players stepping up at key times and making the biggest plays of their lives. You never know, this could be one of them.

If you see Jobe, No. 28, it'll probably be on special teams. Smith could also line up deep as a return man.

5) Situational karma

The Eagles have become known as being an aggressive team, and they've converted more fourth downs than any other team in the regular season and playoffs combined.

Specifically, the Eagles have converted a league-best 25 fourth-down attempts, for an impressive success rate of 71.4 percent.

Granted, a lot that was from short-yardage situations, with Hurts converting 27 of 31 runs on third or fourth-and-1 (mostly on sneaks with teammates pushing the quarterback forward), his ability to pass or run in such situations could be especially problematic for the Chiefs.

One of the plays that set the tone in the NFC Championship Game was on a deep pass to Smith on fourth-and-3 during the opening drive. It led to a touchdown (even though the 49ers probably should have challenged the ruling of a legal catch).

Player props are courtesy of SI SportsBook: