Of all the strengths and weaknesses that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has, one of his best attributes is protecting the ball. In his eight-game postseason career, he has thrown just two total interceptions, both of which came in his playoff debut in 2022. Since then, he has thrown seven touchdowns and no picks, and during the regular season, he threw just five total interceptions, his lowest total in a full season.
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, who was named an All-Pro selection for the second consecutive season, hopes to force mistakes out of Hurts on Sunday in Super Bowl LIX. During the regular season, McDuffie picked up the first two interceptions of his career, which came in Weeks 14 and 15. The five-foot-11 Washington product also defended 13 passes this season, also a career high, and he finished the season as Pro Football Focus’ second-graded cornerback. He has +650 odds to record at least one interception in the Super Bowl at DraftKings Sportsbook.
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The Chiefs played zone coverage on a slight majority of plays, and McDuffie thrived in such situations, posting Pro Football Focus’ seventh-best coverage grade in such situations, recording five passes defended in just 37 total targets. He also posted the 19th-highest snaps per target figure in zone coverage among 72 cornerbacks who played at least 400 coverage snaps, indicating that opposing quarterbacks were extremely wary of throwing on him in such situations. Kansas City will probably play predominantly zone against Hurts, who has been significantly better against man than zone coverage this year. In man, McDuffie ranks just 104th, although he recorded one of his two interceptions in such situations.
McDuffie has struggled somewhat in the postseason, allowing eight completions on 13 targets for 122 yards and a touchdown, good for a 118.1 passer rating. He has recorded three passes defended and eight total tackles without missing a single tackle, and, perhaps worryingly, he was significantly better in man coverage than zone coverage in the Chiefs’ first two postseason games, grading as the fourth-best man defender among cornerbacks in the postseason and just the 32nd-best in zone coverage.
Regardless of the scheme, you can’t expect too much from McDuffie in the Super Bowl, given that the Eagles have been a fundamentally different team since their Week 5 bye. After the bye, Hurts completed nearly 70% of his passes and threw just one total interception, a relatively inconsequential red zone pick in the second quarter of a 34-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10. This season, Hurts had the league’s ninth-lowest bad throw percentage among 43 qualified passers, although he did have the sixth-highest percentage of turnover-worthy plays among 24 quarterbacks who dropped back at least 400 times.
