The Chiefs' defense needs to be ready for one Eagles play (and it isn't the tush push)

After claiming the team’s third Lamar Hunt Trophy in as many seasons last month, the Kansas City Chiefs are in the thick of preparations for Super Bowl LIX.

Gameplans are being carefully crafted, tendencies meticulously studied. And as the Chiefs design what they hope will be the winning formula to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, there is one specific play I think the defense absolutely needs to prepare for.

It’s not the tush push, but rather, the fake tush push. Let me explain.

The Chiefs stopped Buffalo and Josh Allen three times on quarterback sneaks in the AFC Championship game—first on a two-point conversion, then again on a 3rd-&-1 in the third quarter, and one last time on the 4th-&-inches sneak in the final quarter.

It’s an unprecedented level off success against a play that almost always has a positive result, which could indicate that Kansas City has maybe, just maybe, become the first team to reliably be able to stop the sneak.

Of course, Philladelphia’s brotherly shove is not the same as the kind of sneaks Buffalo likes to run. The tush push is set up differently, is executed differently, and it is far more effective.

But Kansas City’s potential ability to have some sort of answer, based on the evidence against Buffalo, might just be enough for the Eagles to opt for something different.

Kansas City will no doubt be hyper-focused on the brotherly shove, and the Chiefs defense will almost certainly sell out to try and stop it. That’s what they did against Buffalo, and it worked.

So, if you’re Philadelphia, what’s the best thing to do you do when your opponent is expecting something? Do something different. And a play like a fake tush push could have huge, big-play potential.

A factor in Kansas City’s ability to deny Allen repeatedly came down to Buffalo’s predictability, according to Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson.

"I mean, from our defensive side, he [Josh Allen] always QB sneaks to our right," Johnson said on SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio last week. "So every time we see him in QB sneak formation, we know he’s coming to the right side every time. If he would’ve did something different, then we wouldn’t have been prepared because we’re selling he was coming to that right side every time.”

That last line could be the key for Philly: doing something different

The brotherly shove has become Philadelphia’s signature play. Anytime the Eagles face a short yardage situation, everyone – and I mean everyone – knows what play is coming next. It could be the perfect time for some misdirection. And as Johnson said, if the Eagles opt for that, it could very well catch the Chiefs unprepared.

We’ve seen fake tush pushes from Philadelphia before, like this pass option against Arizona last season.

And this decoy from the season prior too.

It’s clearly an adaptation to the play that Philly is comfortable running. It’s a play that Kansas City’s defense should absolutely be prepared for.

The most famous play in Eagles history is a trick play in the Super Bowl, the Philly Special. Hopefully for Kansas City, the trick tush push doesn’t go alongside it.