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Redemption, Dominance, Retribution. The Philadelphia Eagles deny the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl in a 40-22 rout. A rematch of Super Bowl LVII two seasons ago, where the Chiefs came out on top 38-35 to defeat the Eagles. A lot has changed since then.
The Chief's defense has been the main culprit of their sustained dominance, reaching back-to-back Super Bowls. The Eagles added a dynamic running back, Saquon Barkley, a stud wide receiver in AJ Brown, and rebuilding a stout defense led by defensive masterminds Kellem Moore and Vic Fangio. This season, the best defense in the NFL is massive improvements from the 30th last season, which changed it all.
Some controversial penalties on both sides got the game off to a rough start. Brown was called for pass interference, and Chiefs All-Pro linebacker Trent McDuffie was called for unnecessary roughness. It was all Eagles from there.
The Eagles struck first with a Jalen Hurts touchdown after a 28-yard catch by Jahan Dotson, setting them up in the red zone. They never looked back. Hurts scored his one rushing touchdown off a tush push the next play, bringing the quarterback's postseason rushing touchdown record to 10. The Eagles' offense proved multidimensional, as the top rushing team was held to just 135 yards, while Barkley was held to just 57 rushing yards, but it still proved explosive.
Barkley broke the single-season rushing record, including playoffs, recently held by Terrell Davis. They were unstoppable, whether it was their star receiver duo AJ Brown or DeVonta Smith for a deep 46-yard dagger that put the Eagles up 34-0.
Hurts was incredible all night throwing. He threw for 221 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and one interception on 17-of-22 completions with a passer rating of 119.7. The highest of his postseason career.
Hurts was incredible against pressure, especially the blitz, something he’s improved at massively this season posting a career-high 66% against it heading into this game. His poise showed in the pocket, and he made smart reads due to an elite Eagles offensive line or finding gaps in the Chiefs' defense against the blitz to get a new set of downs.
Despite their explosive offense, the Eagles wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl without their shutdown defense. It was an absolute demolition and masterclass against the two-time defending champions. The Eagles forced three turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble). One of those interceptions was from Eagles star rookie Cooper DeJean, who returned it for a touchdown, a 22nd birthday gift he’ll never forget.
The other was by All-Pro linebacker Zach Baun inside the Chiefs 10, which set them up in excellent field position for a Brown touchdown, putting them up 24-0 heading into halftime. The third was a strip sack fumble midway through the fourth at the Chiefs 18, as the Eagles put three more on the board to go up 40-6.
The Eagles' smothering defense pressured Mahomes 16 times and sacked him six, the most of all his Super Bowl appearances. He was sacked 10 times combined in his first four Super Bowl appearances. It is more impressive that they did this without blitzing on Mahomes 42 dropbacks.
The defense forced five three and outs and the Chiefs went 3-of-11 (33%) on third downs for a team that was ranked second best on third down conversions all season per Team Rankings. Meanwhile, for the Chiefs, it was a nightmare on all cylinders. The offensive line couldn’t protect Mahomes against the best defense in the NFL.
“Defense wins championships,” Hurts said. “We saw how they played today. We saw the difference they made in the game. They gave us opportunities, gave us short fields. And we’re able to do what we do.”
The offense had more turnovers than first downs in the first half and didn’t even pass midfield, putting up a mere. The Eagles' defensive front four, Milton Williams, Jalen Carter, Josh Sweat, and Jordan Davis, all played an instrumental part in not letting Mahomes get comfortable in the pocket. They were relentless.
Travis Kelce was mute, to say the least, with four receptions for just 39 yards and no trips to the endzone in one of the worst games of his career. The running game was nonexistent as Isiah Pacheco, Samaje Perine, and Kareem Hunt combined for a pedestrian 24 rushing yards on seven carries. It's something their offense has struggled with all season.
The Chiefs offense couldn’t get anything, not scoring their first touchdown until late in the third from Mahomes to Xavier Worthy when it was all but over. The Eagles were too explosive offensively, with the tallest, biggest offensive line in NFL Super Bowl history compounded by a historic defense. It's a tall task to overcome when you pair that with the best running back in the league and a star quarterback.
“Today was a rough day all around. Nothing went right. I didn’t coach well. Proud of our guys for fighting. We will learn from this,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Too many turnovers, too many penalties. Against a good football team, can’t do that.”
The Eagles became the second team in the last decade to win multiple Super Bowls, joining the Tom Brady Patriots and the Mahomes Chiefs, both of whom they beat for their two Super Bowls. The Chiefs will have some questions to answer this offseason, as this may be Kelce’s last hurrah and an offensive line that was exploited.
However, the Eagles now lay claim as the franchise that’s defeated two of the greatest quarterbacks ever in a Super Bowl. Hurts proved his doubters wrong that he could win the big one, joining Joe Montana and Joe Namath as the only quarterbacks to win a college football national championship and Super Bowl.
Eagles Nick Sirianni’s passion spewing with emotion, as a coach once criticized for being too passionate, commemorated the moment as it became a reality after losing heartbreakingly to the Chiefs two seasons ago. They halt the Chiefs from becoming the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era.
Revenge is bittersweet, and the Eagles did it historically.
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