Johnson Barkley e1738249580970 Philadelphia EaglesImagn Images

The last time Kansas City allowed a 100-yard rusher in a postseason game, Steve Spagnuolo was out of football. Saquon Barkley had just finished playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Six years later, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator against the Eagles’ running back – on his birthday – sets up one of the most fascinating storylines of Super Bowl LIX.

It’s one of the best immovable-force-unstoppable-object matchups in Super Bowl history. But two-time Super Bowl champion Damien Woody is convinced Barkley will break Spagnuolo’s string of 18 playoff games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.

“Because I don’t think the Chiefs have faced a rushing attack like this, between the personnel up front with the offensive line and the runner that the Philadelphia Eagles have,” Woody said Thursday on Get Up.

Barkley has eclipsed 100 yards 14 times in his first season with the Eagles, including each of Philadelphia’s three postseason games. He’s hit 150 yards on six occasions. The synergy between Barkley and an offensive line led by 2024 Pro Bowlers Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgens produced the league’s second-ranked rushing attack (179.3 yards per game). In the playoffs, that rushing offense has averaged 227.7 yards per contest.

“Listen, we’ve seen games where they just stopped handing the ball off to Saquon Barkley because they dominated,” Woody added. “They dominated so badly that they didn’t even have to rush him, in the latter part of the game.”

Woody pointed out that Spagnuolo’s defense, which has allowed 148.0 rushing yards per game in the postseason, gave up big yards to James Cook, Joe Mixon and C.J. Stroud. The Chiefs also haven’t had a takeway in two postseason games, and none since Christmas Day at Pittsburgh. Over that same stretch, the Eagles have zero giveaways, including postseason, and lead the NFL with an incredible plus-15 turnover margin over the past five weeks of NFL games (plus-10 in the postseason).

But there’s a reason the Chiefs wear T-shirts declaring, “In Spags we trust.”

“And now, you get to roll with one of the preeminent players in the game to give yourself a better chance than you had the last time against the Kansas City Chiefs,” said Adam Schefter. “And, Steve Spagnuolo is a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator; he’s been incredible. Nobody has done a better job in big-game spots than him, which really sets up one of the more interesting and intriguing subplots to this whole Super Bowl. Can one of the great defensive coordinators of all-time shut down a running back that had one of the great seasons of all-time?”

Barkley (2,447) needs just 30 rushing yards to break the single-season record, including playoffs, held by Hall of Famer Terrell Davis (2,776 in 1998).

For more information on the Eagles and Chiefs, visit the Philadelphia and Kansas City team pages at ProFootballPost.com.


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By Zak Gilbert

Since his freshman year at the University of Colorado, Zak Gilbert has worked 30 years in sports, including 18 NFL seasons. He's spent time with four NFL teams, serving as head of communications for both the Raiders and Browns. A veteran of nine Super Bowls, he most recently worked six seasons in the NFL's New York league office.

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