Chiefs’ Kadarius Toney made the Eagles pay for an ‘ugly’ punt: ‘We’ve got to execute better’

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Midseason trade acquisition Kadarius Toney proved to be a difference maker for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

Originally selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft by the Giants, Toney torched the Eagles in the fourth quarter Sunday when he recorded the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. Several moments after he scored on a 5-yard touchdown reception, Toney set up another Chiefs score with his 65-yard punt return to the Eagles’ 5-yard line.

On the play, Arryn Siposs appeared to shank his second punt of the game that traveled just 38 yards. Toney fielded the punt off the ground, and he made several oncoming defenders miss, including wide receiver Zach Pascal, who had the first shot at tackling him. Toney then planted his foot, cut toward the right sideline, and jetted upfield.

“He [Siposs] just gave us a really ugly punt and I just had to go out there and make a play,” Toney said.

Said Siposs: “We were trying to get it toward the gunner. [I] misdirected it a little bit, but we gave him a hard time in terms of catching the ball. It kind of almost came out of his hands. But he just made a helluva play. He’s a helluva player, and we put him in a good spot.”

Second-year cornerback Zech McPhearson said the Eagles had practiced directional punts over the past two weeks, keeping in mind that Toney had explosive-play ability.

“I just put that on the whole unit,” he said. “We’ve got to execute better. We need to have better run lanes. We need to be disciplined. Kadarius is a shifty returner, as we can all see. We really just need to be more disciplined in our rush lanes. We have to get him down, we have to execute better as a unit.

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“The ball kind of bounced a little bit. When the ball hits the ground, we all kind of naturally rush toward it. When he picked it up, everybody’s got to be disciplined, and trust that somebody is on the right and left of you. But when everybody starts going this way [pointing to his left], that’s when big returns come. With a returner like him, we can’t have that happen.

“Preparing against the Chiefs, we knew Kadarius likes to hit one move, one stick, and then bounce the other way. Those were the teaching points. We have to be more detailed because that’s exactly what he did. He cut back all the way, and we didn’t execute enough as a unit.”

Coincidentally, it was Siposs, along with rookie Nakobe Dean, who finally brought down Toney near the 5-yard line. The Chiefs scored just three plays later with Patrick Mahomes connecting with a wide-open Skyy Moore for a 4-yard touchdown reception.

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“I’m hungry to get back and make something of this,” Siposs said. “I never want to feel this way again. The boys had a great season, we tried super hard, and we came up short.”

Throughout the season, special teams has often been under a microscope given the unit’s struggles across multiple games. Dean said this specific sequence came down to missed tackles.

“We did a good job bottling him up, it seemed like,” Dean said. “We just have to get our hands on him and get him down. We have to tackle him to the ground. We just have to tackle no matter the miscommunication. If we tackle him, there won’t be any problems.

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“I’m very excited for the future. I’m blessed to get here in my first year. I’m going to use this as motivation for the rest of my career. Not many people ever make it to the Super Bowl, so being able to experience this in my first year, I’m going to work to the point of exhaustion and wanting to push this team to another Super Bowl. I don’t want to wait another six, seven years before we get to another Super Bowl.”

McPhearson said: “It’s hard to get here; I hear that from all the guys. I’ve been kind of spoiled reaching the playoffs the past two years. I’m really thankful for it. I definitely want to come back.”