NEW ORLEANS – Travis Kelce is an unusual example of an offensive star who has a keen interest in his next opponent’s offensive line.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end won’t even be on the field at the same time as Philadelphia’s offensive front during Sunday’s Super Bowl, but it’s personal for Kelce, whose brother, Jason, was the Eagles’ center for 13 years before retiring after last season.
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Kansas City’s Kelce became close with some of his brother’s former teammates and still watches their games.
“That offensive line — that’s the motor over there in Philly,” Travis Kelce said. “It’s going to be a tough job stopping them.”
Kelce has paid particular attention to Cam Jurgens, a starting guard for the Eagles in 2023 who this season moved over to fill Jason's old spot.
“He’s done an unbelievable job this year taking the bull by the horns and really being the middle piece up front,” Travis Kelce said.
The Eagles arguably have the most formidable offensive front in football.
All five starters — Jurgens, guards Landon Dickerson and Mekhi Becton, and tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson — received AP All-Pro votes. Mailata and Johnson were named AP second-team All-Pro.
The group gets no small measure of credit for the success of a ground game that ranked second in the NFL this season with 179.3 yards per game and featured AP All-Pro running back and AP offensive player of the year Saquon Barkley.
Johnson has enjoyed the Eagles' emphasis on running the ball.
“For the offensive line, pass blocking is like you’re dodging punches and run blocking is we’re throwing haymakers,” Johnson said. “I love it.”
The unit’s average height is 6-foot-6 and average weight is 338 pounds.
“You can’t coach size,” Mailata said. “So, that’s part of it — DNA ... pure body length and size of arms, size of hands.”
But Mailata stressed those attributes would mean less without coaches who can “translate that on the field.”
“That can only happen if you have the player and the coach on the same page,” Mailata said.
In his meeting room, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland likes to remind his unit that “no man is an island; you must draw your strength from others.”
“That’s the epitome of what an offensive lineman goes through,” Stoutland said. “Your job will not be done properly, or effectively, if the people next to you are not performing their job the way it’s been taught. ... You have to constantly depend on the man next to you.
“It’s important to have good talent,” Stoutland added. “But then, on top of that, there’s a mindset.”
The unit’s ability to work as one is embodied by one of its most effective plays, called either the tush push or “ brotherly shove.” The short-yardage quarterback keeper looks like a rugby scrum, although Mailata, an Australian who grew up playing rugby, says with a grin that in a scrum, “the other side usually pushes back.”
For Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi, that’s the play that separates Philadelphia’s offensive line from all others.
“Fourth-and-1, third-and-1, third-and-2 — they’re going to get it no matter what,” Nnadi said. “It’s just a big challenge trying to stop that.”
The play preceded the arrival of first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who adopted it enthusiastically.
“I just listened. I didn’t coach one bit," Moore said of that play. "It’s a tremendous play. There’s a lot of details and fundamentals going into it.”
When Jurgens moved to center, the void he left at guard was filled by Becton, who until this season was seen as a draft bust. The New York Jets selected him 11th overall in 2020, but he never met expectations as a tackle, missed the 2022 season with an injury and became a free agent after the Jets declined his fifth-year option.
Since Philadelphia signed Becton to a one-year contract, the trajectory of his career has looked a lot better.
Becton said it wasn’t just the Eagles' vision for him as a guard that elevated his game. It was also the way coaches and teammates made him feel about his worth as a person and player.
“If you get support from people that you feel like they love you and you feel like you love them back, you’re going to do a lot of things great,” Becton said. “I feel like support just goes a long way."
Intangibles like that are often mentioned by Eagles coaches when discussing the offensive line's prowess.
“It's a really fun group. It's a really cool group, just how connected they are," Moore said. "As the season progresses, you're going to have certain things you lean into as an identity.”
Letting the five guys up front pave the way has become a big part of that.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL