https://sports.yahoo.com/two-years-later-difference-sure-181256196.html
Two years ago, an embarrassingly slick field took the edge off the Eagles’ pass rush in Super Bowl LVII. And that might have helped the Chiefs secure a championship.
In Super Bowl LIX, the playing surface inside the Superdome was not an issue. And the Eagles took full advantage of the sure footing.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson pointed out after last night’s game that he’d made that point on July 3, 2023: “Run that bowl back on legit grass, the Dline SMASH that Oline I’m sorry.” (Why July 3? That same day, we’d posted that the NFL was privately blaming the situation on the players for not wearing the right shoes.)
It’s easy to say the field was the same for both teams. But when a slick field neutralizes the strength of one team and masks a weakness of another, it does indeed make a difference.
While plenty of other factors influenced the outcome of Super Bowl LIX, the Philadelphia defensive line dominated the Kansas City offensive line — to the point where the Eagles didn’t need to blitz a single time. With seven men in coverage against a middle-of-the-pack (at best) group of pass-catchers and four men shortening the time that Patrick Mahomes had to throw, the two pieces came together to clamp down on the Chiefs’ offense.
And, yes, if the Eagles’ edge rushers had been slipping and sliding while trying to put pressure on Mahomes, that would have helped the Chiefs. Like it did two years ago, when the Super Bowl was played on one of the worst surfaces the game has ever seen.
https://sports.yahoo.com/two-years-later-difference-sure-181256196.html
