Leading up to the Philadelphia Eagles match-up with the Kansas City Chiefs in Arizona, Sports Talk Philly and Eagledelphia will compare the personnel of the two teams each day until gameday is here.
In this edition of our week-long comparison, we will look at the offensive linemen that the Eagles and Chiefs will field for the big game.
Philadelphia OL | Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo, Lane Johnson, Jack Driscoll, Andre Dillard, Cam Jurgens, Josh Sills
Much of Jalen Hurts and the offense’s success season can be attributed to their offensive linemen. The Eagles fierce start to this season ranked them No. 1 in the NFL and never flinched from that spot. The big-bodied offensive line had its way in the final game of the season against the Giants, not allowing more than a single hurry to Hurts.
The Eagles offensive line is some of the best in the NFL – and not just at football. Jordan Mailata, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson were busy promoting their Christmas album off the field while dominating on the field. Mailata and Kelce didn’t have a huge season on paper but did step up big with stable performances to keep the offense on the field. Maybe the biggest and most important stat to come out of this historic season is Lane Johnson never allowing a sack since Week 11 of 2020.
The only major flaw that came out of this season was the number of penalties the offensive line had. They tied in the NFL for being the most penalized line, which shouldn’t amount to much given the circumstances of the penalties.
Lane Johnson continues to play though a painful injury to support the team, so his ability to continue with that could be a major factor in the team’s contests moving forward.
Kansas City OL | Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Nick Allegretti, Andrew Wylie, Darian Kinnard, Trey Smith, Lucas Niang, Prince Tega Wanogho
Perhaps the highlight of the offensive line for the Chiefs is Creed Humphrey. At center, Humphrey is the only proven player in the league who can compare with Jason Kelce. They may not be the same player (Humphrey is more pass-blocking inclined as to Kelce’s incredible run blocking), but in quality Humphrey is the only other center in the league who can compare. He was the AP second-team All-Pro behind Jason Kelce and is only in his second season in the league playing at that level.
Orlando Brown entered the league in 2018 and took over as a starter in Baltimore. Entering 2019 as a starter, Brown has started every game for either the Ravens or Chiefs and has been named to the Pro Bowl for four straight seasons.
Thuney spent five seasons with the Patriots at the start of his career and is now in the second year with Kansas City. He missed two games mid-season and missed some snaps in week 17 but has otherwise played 100% of offensive snaps in the other 14 games. For the first time in his career, Thuney was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2022. He will start at left guard.
At right guard, Trey Smith is in his second season in the league. He’s not a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro player, but he is certainly an above average player at the position. He is in a similar position to Thuney as he did miss about half of the game in week one and then was out for week five, but played essentially every offensive snap in the Chiefs other 17 games this season.
The clear weak link among the starters is right tackle Andrew Wylie. He did start every game for Kansas City, but he alone has allowed nine sacks on the year and has 10 penalties, including a taunting penalty in the AFC Championship game (an odd move for someone who is clearly the worst starter on his team’s line). Wylie will have his hands full as Haason Reddick will be looking to dominate him all game. With his taunting in the AFC Championship game, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Eagles look to get in his head and force mistakes.
Prince Tega Wanogho, an Eagles draft pick in the 2020 draft, is the Chiefs top replacement at left tackle, though he has little to no real experience in an actual NFL game. It’s also fair to say Jeff Stoutland wouldn’t give up on such a large player with physical abilities like his for no reason. Nick Allegretti is the top backup for the interior so has had plenty of playing time this season due to injuries. He has looked like a replacement player in that time, though.
Darian Kinnard and Lucas Niang serve as the deeper reserves. Kinnard is listed as the top backup for RT Wylie, but that has not been needed.
Edge:
While Kelce is the best center in the league, Creed Humphrey is right there with him so that comes out in a draw. It would be fair to say that Orlando Brown and Jordan Mailata are on about the same level, too, as are all the guards in this game. That takes the balance down to the right tackle, where Lane Johnson, the top right tackle (and potentially overall tackle) in 2022, easily clears Andrew Wylie tipping the scales in the Eagles favor.
Looking at depth, Jack Driscoll and Andre Dillard are probably both better starting options than Wylie let alone any of the backup options the Chiefs hold.
