Eagles' path to the Super Bowl was paved by the prowess of their offensive line

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — 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.

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.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, left, talks to Landon Dickerson (69) during warm ups before the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens (51) warms up during an NFL football practice Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of Super Bowl 59 against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata (68) warms up during an NFL football practice Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of Super Bowl 59 against the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, center, and teammates run the tush push play during the NFL championship playoff football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, FIle)

Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) celebrates a touchdown by quarterback Jalen Hurts during the second half of the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Monday. He was 74.

Ahn, who had suffered blood cancer for years, was pronounced dead at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital, his agency, the Artist Company, and hospital officials said.

“We feel deep sorrow at the sudden, sad news, pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members," the Artist Company said in a statement.

President Lee Jae Myung issued a condolence message saying Ahn provided many people with comfort, joy and time for reflection. “I already miss his warm smile and gentle voice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.

Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.

In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.

Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.

He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.

Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”

Ahn had collected dozens of trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.

Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”

Ahn said he earlier felt confined with his “The Nation's Actor” labeling but eventually thought that led him down the right path. In recent years, local media has given other stars similar honorable nicknames, but Ahn was apparently the first South Korean actor who was dubbed “The Nation's Actor.”

“I felt I should do something that could match that title. But I think that has eventually guided me on a good direction,” Ahn said in an interview with Yonhap news agency in 2023.

In media interviews, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.

Ahn was also known for his reluctance to do love scenes. He said said he was too shy to act romantic scenes and sometimes asked directors to skip steamy scenes if they were only meant to add spice to movies.

“I don’t do well on acting like looking at someone who I don’t love with loving eyes and kissing really romantically. I feel shy and can’t express such emotions well,” Ahn said in an interview with the Shindonga magazine in 2007. “Simply, I’m clumsy on that. So I couldn’t star in such movies a lot. But ultimately, that was a right choice for me.”

Ahn is survived by his wife and their two sons. A mourning station at a Seoul hospital was to run until Friday.

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)