Eagles rookie storylines entering the Chiefs game

The Eagles will face the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday in one of the most highly anticipated regular season games of the year, a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. Patrick Mahomes and company are always going to be a great challenge for any team and group of players, but the Eagles rookies will face some unique tests in this prime time game.

The Eagles need as much juice as possible from their rookie pass rushers.

Famously, painfully, the Eagles Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs was marked by a pass rush that simply could not pressure Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles potent defensive line was held (sometimes literally) in check and Mahomes diced up the secondary. Now with Jalen Carter playing a prominent role in the rotation and Nolan Smith getting some run on the edge, the Eagles have a ton of firepower to keep the defense in the game. Carter, who has played great football mostly all season, will need to keep it up and hopefully give the Eagles four quarters of great play. Smith, who has been used sparingly so far, has to make the most of his opportunities. The Chiefs offensive is not nearly what it was last year and could actually be a vulnerability for the Eagles to exploit.

The rookie defensive backs have a huge task ahead of them.

The Chiefs receivers, as it stand, kinda stink. Even the absence of JuJu Smith Schuster has been felt by this passing game. Mahomes can elevate players as well as any quarterback in history, but this group of late round rookies and second year players is not cutting it yet. Of course Mahomes is still playing very good football this year and Travis Kelce has remained a dangerous centerpiece in this passing game, but the Chiefs passing game is not nearly as potent as it has been. That being said, Sydney Brown and Eli Ricks could see some playing time depending on how the team plans to handle Bradley Roby’s potential return in the slot.