Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jaguars head coach Liam Coen hired Green Bay Packers linebackers coach/run game coordinator Anthony Campanile to be the team’s defensive coordinator.
“Anthony Campanile represents exactly what we want to be as a defensive unit and football team,” Coen said in a statement Thursday. “He brings an aggressive defensive mindset and a system that is adaptable to our players and allows them to play fast and physical.”
In addition to Campanile, Coen interviewed Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Minnesota pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Daronte Jones, and Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator/assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant.
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Campanile, 42, has spent the past five seasons as an NFL assistant coach, first with the Miami Dolphins as linebackers coach (2020-23) and then with the Packers last season.
The Packers ranked seventh in the NFL in rushing defense at 99.4 yards per game allowed and third in the league in yards per carry (4.0) this season. In Campanile’s four seasons in Miami, the Dolphins gave up an average of 4.2 yards per carry (10th in the NFL) and 106.4 yards per game rushing, the sixth-best mark in that span.
Campanile spent six seasons as a high school coach in New Jersey, including five seasons at Don Bosco Prep — three as defensive coordinator, two as offensive coordinator — before joining Rutgers as a defensive assistant in 2012. He also coached tight ends and receivers in his four seasons at Rutgers.
Campanile also spent three seasons at Boston College (2016-18) and one at Michigan before joining Brian Flores’ staff in Miami.
The Kansas City Chiefs are chasing history. Only the Philadelphia Eagles are standing in their way.
The Chiefs are the NFL ninth team to win back-to-back Super Bowls and are trying to become the first to win three straight championships in the Super Bowl era when they meet the Eagles on Feb. 9 in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX (6:30 p.m. ET, Fox).
Kansas City went 15-2 during the regular season, tying for the best record in the NFL with the Detroit Lions. It was still underwhelming at times. Eleven of the Chiefs’ wins came by one score, and they ranked 11th in point margin per game at 3.47.
But they managed to win a ninth straight AFC West championship, clinch the AFC’s top playoff seed and earn the conference’s only first-round postseason bye. Playing both of their playoff games at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs beat the Houston Texans 23-14 in the divisional round before winning the AFC Championship Game over the Buffalo Bills 32-29.
The victory over the Bills was the 17th straight for the Chiefs in games decided by one score. The streak is an NFL record and dates back to 2023 when they won their final three postseason games by seven points or fewer.
Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, we assess the biggest questions surrounding this Chiefs team. — Adam Teicher
How well can the Chiefs defend the Eagles’ tush push?
Judging solely by how they defended the play against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs have reason to believe they can hold up well. Allen and Buffalo tried it six times against the Chiefs but converted twice. One stop came on fourth down at the Kansas City 41 in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs trailed by a point. They used the favorable field position to score the go-ahead touchdown, though the Bills would eventually score a TD of their own to tie the score at 29-29.
“The [defensive] line has to be dominant,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said after the game on how the Chiefs defended the tush push. “Your two [nose guards] and your two ends have to be physical on the inside. We were very successful tonight in limiting Josh Allen on the QB sneaks.”
Kansas City hasn’t fared as well in defending quarterback Jalen Hurts on the tush push. He used it to score two touchdowns against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII two years ago. Hurts also used it to score the winning touchdown against Kansas City in the fourth quarter of a Week 11 regular-season game last season. — Teicher
How does Eagles running back Saquon Barkley change the game plan for Chiefs offensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo?
I expect Spagnuolo to get an additional defender in his front against Barkley, which would reduce the split-safety shells the Chiefs like to use. Whether it happens with pre-snap alignment or a safety spinning down late, Kansas City simply needs more bodies in the box. That means playing a heavier dose of man-free coverage and three-deep zone coverage to add the cut-off defender near the line of scrimmage.
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Plus, the Chiefs must win the edges to limit the Eagles’ run game. Philly will use pin/pull concepts to get Barkley on the perimeter, often from condensed sets. Spagnuolo can put his defensive ends in a wide-9 or 7-technique, which won’t allow the Eagles to crack or pin inside as easily. It also means matching on the backside to take away the run-pass option throw for quarterback Jalen Hurts. — Matt Bowen
What is different about this Chiefs team than the past two Super Bowl teams?
Kansas City won the past two championships with much different styles. This season’s group is much closer to the 2023 team. The Chiefs, for the second straight season, are far less explosive offensively than they were in many of the years since play
How will the Chiefs’ offense adjust to attack the Eagles’ defense?
The same way they’ve attacked every defense this season: very, very precisely. One week after Travis Kelce’s divisional round performance deemed “Playoff Kelce” is back like he never left, he had two catches for 19 yards against the Bills. In that same game, Mahomes had two rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career. His 11 carries were also a single-game high for him. The Chiefs, who now have accumulated an impossible wealth of postseason experience and a deep bag of offensive styles, are ridiculously good at finding a few things that opponents will struggle with, then relentlessly turning those screws.
Against the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, the Chiefs took advantage of predictable man coverage in the low red zone, throwing multiple touchdown passes off the same pre-snap motion meant to put the Eagles’ secondary in communication binds. I wouldn’t be surprised if much of the same occurs on the interior this time, where backup linebacker Oren Burks and starting safety Reed Blankenship have been the most tested Eagles defenders. And, of course, Mahomes’ legs will never fail him in the postseason. — Ben Solak
It could be, but I bet it’s not. While it would be fair to say the 35-year-old Kelce has lost a step — his 8.5 yards per reception and three touchdown catches were his lowest regular-season totals since his 2013 rookie season when he had zero catches — he remains incredibly productive.
Kelce’s 97 catches in 2024 marked his seventh consecutive season of 90 receptions or more, and he remains a fundamental piece of coach Andy Reid’s offense. His 117-yard outing against the Texans in the divisional playoff round shows he can still turn it on when it matters most. Kelce’s chemistry with Mahomes is also difficult to quantify — his presence frees things up for Kansas City’s talented receiving corps in ways that are not always perceptible. Plus, Kelce is under contract for 2025 and stands to collect $17.25 million. Even with an potential acting career in his future, it would be tough for Kelce to walk away from that kind of cash as well as a chance at a possible four-peat. — Jeremy Fowler
Tim McManus covers the Philadelphia Eagles for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2016 after covering the Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7, a site he helped create, since 2010. You can follow him on Twitter @Tim_McManus.
PHILADELPHIA — Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham, the hero of Super Bowl LII, is looking to make a comeback just in time for the championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles opened the practice window for the veteran defensive end Thursday. Graham tore his triceps in late November against the Los Angeles Rams and announced in the locker room afterward that he would miss the remainder of the season.
Given that he was planning on 2024 being his final season in the pros, there was a real chance the Rams game would be his last. But he’s been rehabbing behind the scenes, and optimism has grown in recent days that he might be able to suit up against Kansas City in New Orleans.
“I’ve been working, man. We’re going to see,” Graham said after Sunday’s 55-23 NFC Championship Game win over the Washington Commanders. “Them boys scored 55 today [the same as his jersey number]. That’s what’s up. That might be telling me something.”
Graham, 36, is the author of the most consequential play in franchise history, a strip sack of Tom Brady in the closing moments of Super Bowl LII that helped deliver the first and only Lombardi Trophy to the city of Philadelphia.
Graham has played the most regular-season games (206) in team history and has the third-most sacks (76.5).
His 15th NFL season was much more than a farewell tour. He was a key part of Vic Fangio’s edge rush rotation, posting 3.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits and six tackles for loss before getting injured.
The Super Bowl trophy is named after Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers coach who led his team to wins in the first two Super Bowls.
However, Bill Belichick said coaches can’t win games without the players and suggested the Lombardi Trophy be renamed after Tom Brady, who won an NFL-record seven Super Bowl rings in his career — six with Belichick as his head coach.
Belichick, the former New England Patriots head coach who is now the coach at the University of North Carolina, made his comments on the “Let’s Go!” podcast this week in a conversation with co-host Jim Gray.
“Maybe they should name it the Brady Trophy. He won seven of them.”
Bill Belichick, on the Super Bowl trophy
“Players win games. You can’t win games without good players. I don’t care who the coach is, it’s impossible. You can’t win without good players. You know, I found that out when I had [Lawrence] Taylor and [Carl] Banks and Harry Carson, Pepper Johnson, Jim Burt, Everson Walls, all those guys at the Giants,” said Belichick, who has won eight Super Bowl rings, including two as an assistant with the Giants. “And same thing when we got good at Cleveland and then at New England. I mean, it’s [Tom] Brady, it’s [Willie] McGinest, it’s [Mike] Vrabel, it’s [Tedy] Bruschi, it’s Corey Dillon, it’s Randy Moss, Troy Brown, Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, Rodney Harrison. Those are guys that won the games, man. I didn’t make any tackles. I didn’t make any kicks. That was [Adam] Vinatieri that made that kick in 4 inches of snow.
“You got to have good players and as a coach, you want to give your players a chance to win. You want to put them in a position where if they go out there and play well, they’ll have a chance to win. That’s what Coach [Bill] Parcells taught me, is there’s always a way to win. You just got to figure out what it is, and you have to give the players a chance.”
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Gray, however, pointed out, “They don’t name it the Starr Trophy,” referring to Bart Starr, the Packers’ quarterback for those first two Super Bowl wins. “It’s named the Lombardi Trophy.”
Belichick responded, “Maybe they should name it the Brady Trophy. He won seven of them.”
Brady won six Super Bowls as the quarterback with the Patriots and another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is a five-time Super Bowl MVP, the most by any player in NFL history.
