4 unheralded players who could be Super Bowl difference-makers
There is a lot to discuss, as always, leading up to the Super Bowl. Much will be made of the Patriots' amazing run of NFL dominance. Meanwhile, coming off his best game as a professional, Nick Foles is now a gigantic wild card for this game. Which Foles will we see?
But let's pivot off the main storylines and identify two integral players for each team who are too often overlooked. Any of these four guys could make the play that decides the Super Bowl.
Patriots
DT Malcom Brown
The Patriots' first-round pick from the 2015 draft is a key component on a defense allowing just 14.4 points per game since Week 4. A behemoth who moves well for his size, Brown does the dirty work in the middle of New England’s defensive line, often occupying several blockers.
But Brown also makes a lot of plays for a big man in a role that usually doesn’t lend itself to playmaking. In this game, take note as to where New England aligns its big defensive tackles. A feasible tactic is putting Brown head up over Jason Kelce, who is one of the league’s best centers and extremely impressive blocking on the move and playing in space.
Putting Brown directly over Kelce could help negate the latter's athletic advantage and force Philadelphia’s center to deal with power and brute force, which isn’t his specialty. It might not get a lot of attention, but if Brown can control the middle of the line of scrimmage and stymie the Eagles’ potent interior run game, it will go a long way to another Patriots Super Bowl victory.
G Shaq Mason
Maybe the biggest key for New England is getting the Eagles' exceptional defensive line blocked. The Patriots offense is extremely well-coached and excellent in the run game, but Philadelphia is one of the toughest defenses to run against in the league. New England’s starting pair of offensive tackles played well against an equally dangerous Jaguars’ defensive front in the AFC Championship Game, but Mason had a tough day.
However, he is New England’s best lineman, and will have to be on top of his game Sunday. Coming from a run-heavy Georgia Tech program and greatly lacking in height compared to his peers, Mason was not an ordinary guard prospect and lasted until the 131st pick overall in 2015. When he arrived in New England, he had to basically learn pass protection from scratch, but was a powerful leverage-based run blocker with some nastiness to his game.
Well, Mason has improved by leaps and bounds to become one of the better guards in the league. That ability to protect will be greatly challenged against Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Timmy Jernigan and the rest.
Eagles
DE Brandon Graham
Graham has just 38.5 career sacks in 111 NFL games, including 9.5 in 2017. But those stats simply do not do this player justice. Graham is a wrecking machine.
He will line up at defensive end in Philadelphia’s standard four-man front on early downs, but in passing situations, Graham usually aligns next to Cox on the interior. The Eagles have possibly the league’s best defensive line, and it's extremely deep. Cox gets the most notoriety and deserves all of his accolades, but Graham is one of the best in the business over the past two seasons and rarely garners such recognition.
The biggest key to beating Tom Brady is getting a consistent pass-rush with just four defenders. Philadelphia is very capable of that, and Graham is one of the main reasons why.
S Malcolm Jenkins
A first-round cornerback prospect out of college, Jenkins now does it all. He can play single or two high well away from the ball. He can walk down in the box and play the run as well as many linebackers. He is a good blitzer. He also has covered the opponent’s slot receiver or receiving tight end with success. The glue to Philadelphia’s terrific defense, there are few players like him.
The Eagles prefer to play zone coverage and are a heavy Cover 3 team, but they also can play man to man. Assuming Rob Gronkowski plays, getting New England’s star tight end covered with some success is always extremely difficult. The way Philadelphia’s defense is set up, those duties will most likely fall on several players and the Eagles like to go to a big nickel package, as we saw against Minnesota with Corey Graham as their third safety.
The combination of Philadelphia’s athletic linebackers and versatile safeties match up as well as anyone can against Gronkowski, although don’t be surprised if we see quite a few snaps of man coverage with Jenkins shadowing him. That outcome of that matchup could be one of the biggest keys to this game.
Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast." Find him on Twitter @WilliamsonNFL.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)