Chiefs, Eagles X-Factors for 2025 Super Bowl

Under-the-radar players who can make or break the Super Bowl for the Chiefs and Eagles.

All NFL games are about matchups, but Super Bowls are even more so. There’s no more time to get the wrong things right, and the bad things better. You have the players and coaches to have, and you have to array it all to the best possible result. Every play means a lot, and the combination of plays in a positive or negative sense can elevate or steamroll your efforts in a big hurry.

In Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, beyond the obvious stars everyone will be watching, here are three players for each team whose efforts could really slant the final outcome – for better or worse!

Philadelphia Eagles

LG Tyler Steen

The Eagles come into Super Bowl LIX with the NFL’s best offensive line, and there isn’t any question about it. That front five, under the direction of run game coordinator/offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland (University), can pass-protect with the best of them and maul your defense right off the screen when it’s time to run the ball, which it is quite frequently when you have this version of Saquon Barkley.

Of course, things tend to dissipate when members of that line are not 100%, and that’s a question mark right now. Both center Cam Jurgens (back) and left guard Landon Dickerson (knee) gutted it out in Philly’s 55-23 demolition of the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship game, with Dickerson playing center for Jurgens in the first half, and Jurgens taking over for the final two quarters. That left Tyler Steen, the Eagles’ 2023 second-round pick from Alabama, as the left guard throughout.

Steen availed himself pretty well for a guy who had just 125 NFL reps at left guard before this game – he allowed no sacks, no quarterback hits, and two quarterback hurries – but there were some rough moments, as well. We’ll have to see where Jurgens and Dickerson are health-wise as the game gets closer, but if Steen has to deal with Chris Jones and company, and Steve Spagnuolo’s evil stunts and blitzes as a full-go starting level, that plays in Kansas City’s favor.

DL Milton Williams

It would be impossible to name an Eagles defender who hasn’t improved under Vic Fangio in the 2024 season, and Milton Williams, the multi-gap pass-rushing terror from Louisiana Tech who the team selected in the third round of the 2021 draft, has really upped his game of late. I loved the 6’3, 290-pound Williams’ college tape because I’m always in favor of pass rushers who can win from anywhere in the formation, and Williams could do that in college. He’s simply amplified his skills several times over since.

Williams has six sacks, seven quarterback hits, and 37 quarterback hurries this season in just pass-rushing snaps, and his gap versatility allows him to be a total force multiplier in straight four-man rushes, as well as stunts and blitzes. With 10 pressures on the edge and 45 as a three-tech tackle, Williams is the guy on that Eagles line where you’re wondering where he is. What you don’t wonder about much is the end result – a lot of unhappy quarterbacks. Especially when, as Patrick Mahomes currently is, said quarterbacks are playing behind problematic offensive lines.

CB Quinyon Mitchell

The Eagles knew that they had to move on from cornerback James Bradberry as a primary factor after the 2023 season. The unfortunate decline was too clear for a formerly great player. So, the decision was made to select Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell with the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 draft. Mitchell was the best cornerback in this draft class in my opinion, but as is the case for most young defensive backs, he took his share of lumps early on.

But from Week 11 through the NFC Championship Game, Mitchell has been the team’s best cornerback. In that time, he allowed 22 catches on 42 targets for 180 yards, 19 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 59.6. Both of those picks came in the postseason, where Mitchell has become even more of a lockdown guy.

The Chiefs are great in attacking defenses with short-to-intermediate route concepts, which makes Mitchell highly important in that equation. Over and over this season, he’s proven to be not only a defender who can match and carry speed receivers up top, but also a real problem for opponents on slants, screens, and crossers.

Mitchell’s timing is perfect to become a Pro Bowl-level cornerback, and he has officially arrived.

Kansas City Chiefs

WR Xavier Worthy

On the other side of that first-round rookie discussion, there’s Xavier Worthy, best known for setting the scouting combine 40-yard dash record with a 4.21-second time. The Chiefs selected Worthy with the 28th overall pick in the first round (yes, Bills fans, we’re well aware that they traded up with Buffalo to do it – ouch), and the thought was that with Worthy’s straight-line speed, he would give the Andy Reid’s offense a vertical dimension it hasn’t had since the Tyreek Hill trade on March 24, 2022.

So far, that hasn’t been the case. The Chiefs’ vertical passing game is actually kind of a big problem this season. Patrick Mahomes has completed just 13 of 51 passes of 20 or more air yards for 465 yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions, a passer rating of 58.5 that is the NFL’s second-worst ahead of only Anthony Richardson’s 50.1, and the league’s lowest completion percentage at 25.5.

Worthy has just four of those deep catches on 18 targets for 146 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 58.3. But while the downfield stuff hasn’t caught on yet, Worthy has proven to be quite worthy (sorry) as a short-to-intermediate target with a ton of after-catch ability. Worthy has 24 catches behind the line of scrimmage this season, and he’s averaged 9.8 yards per carry on those. On passes of 0-9 air yards, he’s bagged 38 catches with a 5.9 yards-per-catch average.

There are different ways to create explosive plays in the passing game, and as Worthy has developed as a pure receiver and route-runner, he has brought more to the playbook – which is desperately needed. Maybe he gets a couple of deep targets in the Super Bowl, but don’t be surprised if the real plan is to get the ball in Worthy’s hands quickly, and see how he can dance through the Eagles’ highly disciplined defense.

Are we excited about any Mitchell-Worthy matchups? Yes. Yes, we are.

LG Mike Caliendo

So, let’s get to the Chiefs’ offensive line. This is… not currently a matchup that works in Kansas City’s favor. Tackles Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries, and Jawaan Taylor have each struggled in their own special ways this season, which has led Andy Reid and his staff to take left guard Joe Thuney and kick him outside to left tackle. Thuney has held up pretty well in that role, but his re-placement has led to issues with his… well, replacement.

Mike Caliendo, the 2022 undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan, has seen his snap totals soar exponentially since Week 15, when Thuney was reassigned. Given his level of experience, Caliendo hasn’t been horrible per se – he’s allowed one sack, three quarterback hits, and nine quarterback hurries in 212 pass-blocking snaps this season – but as it often does, the tape tells a different and more expansive story than the metrics.

At 6’4 and 301 pounds, Caliendo needs to be quick off the ball and just about technique-perfect to avoid getting overpowered. He’s not always quick to recognize and react to stunts and games, and blitzes can be a bit of a problem.

We don’t yet know what the plan for Humphries is at left tackle for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs signed the former Arizona Cardinals standout in November to bolster their tackle rotation, but Humphries hasn’t played since Week 18, as he’s been dealing with a hamstring injury. If Kansas City keeps Thuney on the outside, and Caliendo has to deal with Jalen Carter and the aforementioned Milton Williams? That looks very much like a big yikes.

DL Mike Pennel

The one obvious key matchup in Super Bowl LIX is Philly’s run game vs. the Chiefs’ run defense. If the Eagles are able to do to the Chiefs what they did to the Commanders in the NFC Championship game (36 carries for 229 yards and SEVEN RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS, FOR GOD’S SAKE), that whole three-peat thing ain’t gonna happen. The Chiefs already know about Jalen Hurts the runner, because he totaled 70 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 15 carries in Super Bowl LVII a couple years back.

Hurts was the Eagles’ only real threat as a runner then. Now, it’s Saquon Barkley Time.

This season, the Chiefs defense ranks 12th in Defensive DVOA – 17th against the pass, and ninth against the run. Their yards per carry allowed to opposing running backs of 3.78 is the NFL’s second best behind the Baltimore Ravens. They also rank second behind the Ravens in opponent success in second-level and open-field runs. But they rank 28th in opponent Power Success (percentage of runs on third or fourth down, 2 yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown), and in 23rd Stuffed Rate (percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage). Steve Spagnuolo’s defense can cap your runs if you crave explosive plays, but you can also get things going pretty consistently from the line of scrimmage.

If the Chiefs are to have any chance of at least limiting Barkley’s effect on this game (and let’s not forget Jalen Hurts and the Tush Push), especially around the line of scrimmage, a big game from defensive lineman Mike Pennel is definitely in order.

Chris Jones leads the team’s defensive tackles in stops this season with 26, but we already know about him. Tershawn Wharton ranks second with 21, but he’s more of an interior pass-rusher, and he weighs about 280 pounds. At 6’4 and 332 pounds, Pennel has the size, strength, and quickness to at least slow down that Evil Empire of a run game. This season, Pennel has 15 stops on 194 run defense snaps.

The Chiefs might want to make Pennel an every-down guy in this game.