Biggest Questions Facing Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII

Super Bowl LVII will bring an elite matchup to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Kansas City Chiefs.

It's a game that has just about everything you could ask for in the Super Bowl. The Eagles and Chiefs each finished the season with the best record in their respective conferences.

For those who appreciate a good storyline, there's plenty for Hollywood to work with here. It's the first matchup of brothers in the Super Bowl. Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce will have to put the podcast aside for a moment to battle for the Lombardi Trophy.

Then there's the fact that Andy Reid will be facing his former team. After spending 14 seasons coming up short of the championship in Philly, he'll be attempting to bring his second title back to Kansas City.

But the winner and loser of the game will ultimately be decided by a few on-field questions. What happens when these two teams actually kick off in the desert? These six questions are paramount to determining who will be crowned champions.

The Eagles' pass rush is the thing of nightmares. How the Chiefs handle what Philadelphia can do up front is a question that will drive this game.

Since Week 11, the Eagles have pressured the opposing passer on 42.6 percent of dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. The next-best team in that time span was the Jacksonville Jaguars, at 36.7 percent.

The staggering depth the Eagles have been able to build on the defensive line is what should scare their AFC counterpart. They have four pass-rushers who had 11 or more sacks in the regular season and 10 more players with at least half a sack.

That relentless pressure on quarterbacks hasn't gone away in the playoffs. Haason Reddick led the way against the 49ers with two sacks, and the Eagles ultimately wound up with seven quarterback hits despite just 18 pass attempts from the Niners.

The Chiefs won't have the same run-heavy approach that San Francisco did. Once Brock Purdy was injured in the first quarter, the Niners turned to their run game and short passes.

Mahomes had 43 pass attempts against the Bengals. If the Chiefs have him do that against the Eagles, it better be with a real plan for how they are going to slow down the pass rush.

There's a reason that Chris Jones has the best odds (40-1) of any defensive player to win Super Bowl MVP over at DraftKings Sportsbook. The defensive tackle is capable of singlehandedly shutting down any given play at any time.

He showed just how dominant he can be against the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished the game with two sacks, three tackles for loss and six pressures, per Next Gen Stats. As disruptive as he was Sunday, he's actually had more than six pressures twice this season.

Jones primarily does his damage on the interior, but he even bumped out to the perimeter to get one of his sacks.

His ability to knife into the backfield on run plays might be even more important than his pass-rushing chops. The Eagles have leaned heavily on the run over the last two weeks, rushing 44 times for 148 yards against the 49ers and 44 times for 268 yards against the Giants.

Part of Kansas City's game plan should be to force Hurts to throw the ball. Jones' shutting down the run game would go a long way toward forcing the Eagles into that game plan.

Jalen Hurts is having a storybook season. He has commanded respect this season, was a clear MVP candidate before his shoulder injury and still has a case to win the award given his 14-1 record as the starter in the regular season.

There's a reason Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Hurts is set to earn a "monster" extension this offseason.

But he also hasn't been asked to do much in the playoffs. Coming off that shoulder injury, Hurts only threw for 154 yards and added another 34 on the ground in the divisional round, but the Eagles blew out the Giants 38-7.

Fast-forward a week and Hurts had another minimalist stat line with 121 yards on 15-of-25 passing and 39 yards on 11 carries.

It didn't much matter. They still put up 31 points and the defense was having its way with the combination of Josh Johnson and a hurt Brock Purdy.

But beating the Chiefs will likely require better offensive output. Patrick Mahomes and Co. are capable of putting up points quickly, and that will raise the pressure on Hurts.

We've seen Mahomes in those situations and what he's able to do. There just isn't a large enough body of work for Hurts yet. He hasn't been tested that much in the playoffs, and how he'll respond in those moments is one of the most intriguing elements of the quarterback matchup.

While Jalen Hurts has played through a shoulder injury of his own, Mahomes also showed some incredible toughness to lead his team through the AFC Championship Game on an injured ankle.

High ankle sprains can be tricky injuries to heal from, but he was nothing short of incredible playing on it. According to Next Gen Stats, he completed every pass he threw outside of the tackle box, on the run and with extended time in the pocket.

Essentially, he was able to deliver his signature off-schedule plays despite the ailment.

But Mahomes explained to Dianna Russini of ESPN after the game the injury altered some of his decision-making. Specifically, there were plays he would have taken off and run more if the ankle was in better shape.

He'll now have two weeks to work on getting the ankle in better shape. While he played well on it Sunday night, it also means he has a whole game's worth of wear and tear on it that he will need to recover from.

With the Eagles boasting their league-leading pass rush, it will be vital that Mahomes is as mobile as possible come Super Bowl Sunday.

The scary thing about the Eagles is that they have put up 69 points in two playoff games and their No. 1 receiver has barely made a dent in the box score.

A.J. Brown was fourth in the league in receiving yards and tied for third in touchdown receptions. Through two playoff games, he has yet to score or have more than 30 yards in a game. Granted, the Eagles haven't had much passing volume in those two games, but he only came down with four of his eight targets for 28 yards against San Francisco.

Against the Chiefs, the Eagles will need more from their star wide receiver.

In general, the battle of Brown and DeVonta Smith against Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson is going to be a fun one. McDuffie and Watson have been sensational as rookies this postseason, while Brown and Smith are an elite receiver duo.

But Smith has already made a big impact in the postseason. His 29-yard reception was the longest offensive play in the NFC Championship Game, and he led the Eagles with six catches and 61 yards (with a TD) against the Giants.

It isn't a question of whether Brown can deliver in the playoffs. His five-catch, 142-yard performance as a member of the Titans last year was about the only positive in their divisional-round exit against the Bengals.

It's just a matter of whether he can break out when it matters most with his new team after an incredible regular season.

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City's passing game didn't exactly light up the scoreboard. Patrick Mahomes was held to just 195 passing yards. His previous career low in a playoff game was 270.

Part of that had to do with the high ankle sprain he suffered late in the first quarter. But the other part had to with the lack of production from his receivers outside of Travis Kelce.

The tight end is the unquestioned No. 1 target in the offense, but Mahomes needs other players to fill the void. That guy used to be Tyreek Hill, but it's been a week-to-week role since the receiver moved to Miami.

No one really stepped up against the Jaguars. Travis Kelce had to take over with 14 receptions for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

Against the Bengals, Marquez Valdes-Scantling made a big difference. His six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown opened up the passing game and forced the Bengals to do more than just take away Kelce.

The Eagles have mostly done a good job against tight ends this season. Opposing tight ends have averaged 4.1 catches and 40.1 yards.

Kelce isn't like most tight ends. He'll likely put up better numbers than any tight end the Eagles have seen all season thanks to his chemistry with Mahomes and Andy Reid's penchant for deploying him in so many different ways.

But Kansas City's passing game can't solely rely on him. The Chiefs need someone like MVS, Kadarius Toney or JuJu Smith-Schuster—of which the latter two left Sunday's game with injuries—to make plays.

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