Four Lessons Packers Can Learn From Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's Super Bowl. The game could impact whether the Green Bay Packers go with Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Feb 13, 2023 11:36 AM EST

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – It had been more than two decades since an NFL MVP also won the Super Bowl. Between Kurt Warner doing it for the Rams in 1999 and Patrick Mahomes doing it for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had fallen short four times.

Mahomes and Philadelphia Eagles counterpart Jalen Hurts, the runner-up for NFL MVP, were absolutely magnificent in the Super Bowl. Mahomes threw three touchdown passes as the Chiefs become only the second team in Super Bowl history to win after trailing by 10-plus points at halftime. Hurts accounted for all four of the Eagles’ touchdowns and 374 of their 417 total yards.

They are among the NFL’s stars at a position that had been dominated for years by the likes of Tom Brady and Rodgers.

Among the things that stand out is their mobility. All of today’s top quarterbacks have the ability to win games with their legs as well as their arm. That doesn’t necessarily mean scrambling for 100 yards like Lamar Jackson, but it means getting out of the pocket, extending plays and creating explosive gains out of thin air.

Rodgers, of course, built his legend with that ability. There wasn’t a scarier sight on earth for an opposing defensive coordinator than Rodgers directing the scramble drill and turning a sack into a touchdown to Jordy Nelson or Davante Adams.

At age 39, Rodgers’ movement skills have declined. He’s not an “iron deer on the lawn,” as former Vikings coach Brad Childress liked to say of immobile quarterbacks, but that ability to extend a play or convert a third-and-10 with a scramble has eroded.

“Mike (McCarthy) used to always say this and I've said it many times, but once the legs go, the rest goes,” Rodgers said early in 2021.

It might be getting to that point.

“The biggest piece is he just can’t move as well as he used to,” a team’s top scout said after watching several Packers games this past season. “That used to be – on top of being great at extending plays and having rare accuracy – he can’t do that anymore.”

You know who can run? Jordan Love.

There are a lot of things in play with Rodgers, including his desire to play at all and the finances. Along with that, it’s fair to wonder, given the continued evolution of quarterback play, if the Packers would prefer to hand the offense to the quarterback who might be a better fit in today’s game.

Tight Ends and Defensive Line

The Eagles got to the Super Bowl on the strength of two things. One, a unique offensive style of power running and a true four-down attack. Two – and this will be the focus of this note – one of the deepest defensive lines in memory.

The Eagles’ defensive front four featured veterans Brandon Graham, Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph and first-round pick Jordan Davis. As the backups. Robert Quinn, who finished second in the NFL in sacks in 2021 and was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, couldn’t even get on the field with just two snaps on Sunday.

The Packers’ defensive line, with Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry headed to free agency, is one of the weakest units on the team. As it stands, Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton and first-round pick Devonte Wyatt would be the starting trio. The next man up is Jonathan Ford, a rookie who was a healthy inactive in all 17 games.

Strengthening that group and building a defense with some real teeth against the run has to be a priority for general manager Brian Gutekunst this offseason.

Meanwhile, both offenses have tight ends in featured roles. For the Chiefs, it’s legend-in-the-making Travis Kelce. He caught all six targets for 81 yards and a touchdown. For the Eagles, it’s Dallas Goedert, who caught 6-of-7 passes for 60 yards. Keep that in mind if the Packers go early on a deep group of tight ends in this year’s draft.

Take a Chance

With the trade deadline approaching, the Chiefs acquired receiver Kadarius Toney for third- and sixth-round draft picks.

As the Giants’ first-round pick in 2021, Toney had been an injury-plagued bust. He had 41 receptions and zero touchdowns while playing in 12 of a possible 25 games. But, as Gutekunst has said a number of times, a player’s draft grades and scouting reports still carry weight, so the Chiefs took a chance.

That chance paid enormous dividends in the Super Bowl. Toney caught the go-ahead touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. His Super Bowl-record 65-yard punt return a couple minutes later set up another touchdown.

Gutekunst has been infinitely more aggressive that his predecessor, Ted Thompson, but the great teams continue to go for it. No guts, no glory, as the saying goes. The Chiefs have guts and now they have more glory.

Defense Doesn’t Win Championships

That statement is obvious given the final score of Sunday’s game. Even after trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, the Chiefs led the NFL with 29.2 points per game. The Eagles were third with 28.1 points per game.

Behind those numbers, the Chiefs ranked second in third-down and red-zone efficiency while the Eagles were fourth on third down and third in the red zone. The Packers were 14th in scoring, 17th on third down, 24th in the red zone and 32nd in goal-to-go situations.

Regardless of the quarterback and with the same set of assistant coaches, coach Matt LaFleur needs to figure out those situational areas if the Packers are going to field an offense capable of competing in 2023.

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