As the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for their matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, ESPN's NFL writers believe that one unsung hero will be the Eagles' "X-Factor" in their hopes of defending their 2024 Super Bowl Championship.
ESPN's Matt Bowen, a former NFL veteran of seven years, believes that Safety Reed Blankenship is the key for the Eagles to stall out the red-hot 49ers. Bowen believes that Blankenship will be on "double-duty", filling a two-way role in the secondary.
Blankenship will be asked to take away middle-of-the-field targets, negating Ricky Pearsall (if healthy) and Jauan Jennings, who'll be stretching the 49ers offense downfield.