The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX 40-22 to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl title.
While the Eagles put up 40 on the Chiefs, it was the defense that showed out on Sunday night.
Philly’s defense shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the first half 24-0. And while the Chiefs scored 22, the game was already well out of reach.
The defense terrorized Mahomes all night, forcing three turnovers, including a pick-six by rookie Cooper Dejean, who was one member of Phildelphia’s young and energized Philadelphia defense that flew around all night.
In his first-ever Super Bowl, and on the day he turned 22, Dejean, picked off Mahomes and ran it back 38 yards for a touchdown. Picking off one of the greatest QBs in history and taking it back for a score in the Super Bowl is an amazing birthday gift.
Philadelphia’s other young players like Quinyon Mitchell, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith and Milton Williams all stepped up and harassed Mahomes all night. They recorded six sacks and one fumble and recovery against the helpless Chiefs, all without a single blitz.
The Eagles played with another level of energy and passion as they sought to avenge their loss to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago.
But the man who orchestrated the Eagles’ dominance all night was quarterback Jalen Hurts. Despite the bad first-half interception, Hurts was outstanding.
Hurts had a combined 293 total yards (221 yards passing, 72 yards rushing) with two passing TDs and 1 rushing TD. He only had five incompletions the entire night (17-22) and connected with five different receivers.
His performance earned him Super Bowl MVP honors, and rightfully so because he was the single best player on the field on Sunday night, and definitely the best QB on the field.
“God is good,” said Hurts after the game. “He’s greater than all the highs and lows.”
While the Eagles were dominant, the Chiefs were completely outmatched.
They struggled to get any rhythm on offense and lost the time of possession battle by 13 minutes as they held the ball for only 23 minutes compared to Philadelphia’s 36 minutes.
The offensive line, normally a stout unit, was overwhelmed all night, eliminating chances to establish any sort of a run game for the team (they only had 50 yards rushing). Unable to contend with the Eagles’ destructive pass rush, the line gave up six sacks.
This put them in a hole early on, and by the end of the third quarter, the game was essentially over.
While the Eagles will celebrate this win later this week in Philadelphia, the Chiefs will have to deal with the fact that they were dominated and failed to make history by becoming the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
And while the Chiefs are aging, the Eagles have young stars on both sides of the ball that will make them championship contenders for years to come.
