Super Bowl LVII: Eagles’ penchant for the QB sneak can give them an edge over the Chiefs | CPT PPP Coverage

As defenses devote more resources to halt the quarterback sneak, they open themselves up to counter moves attacking the vacated space. We’ve already seen this in the playoffs with former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, now leading the Jaguars.

On a crucial fourth-and-inches situation late in the fourth quarter of Jacksonville’s historic comeback against the Chargers on Super Wild Card Weekend, Pederson aligned his offense in a quarterback-sneak look. At the snap, QB Trevor Lawrence instead pivoted back to hand the ball off to Travis Etienne, who beat the Chargers’ defenders to the edge for an explosive 25-yard run that set up the game-winning field goal.

The Super Bowl is prime time for tendency breakers, so the Chiefs will have to be on red alert if and when Jalen Hurts aligns under center in short-yardage situations on Sunday. The game projects to be a close matchup, and both teams will want to exploit every edge available to them.

When it comes to quarterback sneaks, Philadelphia has the clear advantage. When on offense, the Eagles should be able to keep up their success — the Chiefs’ defense has allowed a first down on 14 of 15 quarterback sneaks this season, per Pro Football Focus. On the flip side, Patrick Mahomes has not attempted a quarterback sneak since he suffered an injury on one in Week 7 of 2019 and was forced to miss two games. The Chiefs have only called six quarterback sneaks since then (compared to 70 attempts by the Eagles), and all of them featured tight end Blake Bell or Noah Gray motioning under center to run the play.

If the Eagles can salvage an extra couple of drives and minimize the amount of time Mahomes has the ball in his hands, they will have a good chance of raising their second Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.