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| AP Photo/Matt Slocum |
NEW ORLEANS - Throughout the long media buildup to Super Bowl LIX, virtually all analysts and prognosticators were saying the same thing: The Philadelphia Eagles are the better team … but you can never bet against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. How can the Eagles stop that Mahomes magic?
Breaking news: There was no magic.
No magic, and no Super Bowl three-peat, as the Eagles thoroughly dismantled the two-time defending champions, 40-22, to capture the franchise's second Vince Lombardi Trophy.
And while the margin of victory was 18 points, it wasn't even that close.
The crowd of 65,719 at Caesars Superdome was so heavily draped in Eagles green, it might as well have been a home game for Philadelphia. And the "home" team didn't disappoint. After the first few possessions, the game was never really in doubt.
"What a lesson to the entire world about what good teamwork does," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said during the trophy presentation. "We have selfless guys. We have guys that don't let each other down. We have guys that fight for each other, that play hurt for each other. They love each other.
"Love is a strong thing. It takes a lot of work to develop that. These guys are the best team … in the greatest team sport there is."
If you didn't know the score and were told that Eagles running back Saquon Barkley - who this season became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards - would have 12 carries for a mere 31 yards at halftime, and that quarterback Jalen Hurts would have a modest 123 passing yards, you might have thought the Chiefs were winning. At the very least, it had to be close, right?
Wrong.
Barkley and Hurts didn't have to do much, because the Eagles defense - which led the NFL in total defense in 2024 - was the story.
The Chiefs could muster just two first downs in the first half and were 0-for-7 on third down. Worse, Mahomes threw a pair of picks - one that rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean returned 38 yards for his first career NFL touchdown and another that Zach Baun picked off at the Chiefs' 14-yard line, setting up a touchdown pass from Hurts to A.J. Brown.
DeJean's touchdown capped what might have been the greatest three-play stretch a defense has ever had in the Super Bowl.
After Jake Elliott's 48-yard field goal gave the Eagles a 10-0 lead, Kansas City took over at its own 30-yard line. Here's what happened next:
First-and-10 at the 30: Mahomes is immediately sacked by Josh Sweat for a loss of five.
Second-and-15 at the 25: Mahomes is smothered by Sweat and Jalux Hunt for a 1-yard loss.
Third-and-16 at the 24: Mahomes finally had some time to pass. But rolling to his right, he threw an intermediate pass that was intercepted DeJean - who, like Barkley, was celebrating his birthday on Sunday. The 22-year-old took it to the house to give the Eagles a 17-0 lead.
"Three big plays in a row," said Sweat. "It's just that day."
By the time the production crew began setting up the field for Kendrick Lamar's halftime show, Philadelphia had a 24-0 lead and the Eagles defense had orchestrated perhaps the most dominant half of football in Super Bowl history.
"I take ownership of this loss more than probably any loss in my entire career," said Mahomes. "I put us in a bad spot."
A third-quarter field goal from Elliott made it 27-0 and the Chiefs offense continued to be smothered by coordinator Vic Fangio's defense. With 5:18 left in the third, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith for a 46-yard touchdown. That score capped an MVP performance for Hurts, who completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two TD passes. He added another 72 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown - giving him seven total touchdowns accounted for in two career Super Bowls.
With the Eagles up 34-0 late in the third quarter, about the only drama left was to see if the Eagles could pull off the first shutout in Super Bowl history. It wasn't to be. Mahomes ended up throwing three touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes of the game - two to rookie receiver Xavier Worthy, who finished with eight catches for 157 yards - and one to DeAndre Hopkins. But it was too little too late.
The Eagles defense finished with six sacks and 14 pressures.
"We just followed the gameplan," said Sweat, who had 2.5 sacks. "We just said, ‘Let's play our game, take care of the guy next to us, somebody's gonna make the play.' Once you get it going, nothing can go wrong."
Amazingly, the Eagles didn't call a single blitz all game.
"It allows the guys to cover on the back end," said Sweat. "You [don't have] to add the extra man to do that. It's just big ups to the guys out there. … It gives us a lot of pride to get it done with a four-man rush."
Barkley ended the game with 25 attempts for 57 yards, adding another 40 yards receiving. The Chiefs kept their streak alive - they still haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in the postseason since 2019 - but Barkley did surpass Hall of Famer Terrell Davis' record for the most rushing yards in a season, including the playoffs.
Barkley, who joins Davis as the only players in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards and win the Super Bowl in the same season, reflected on his triumphant first year in Philadelphia.
"I looked to my left, looked to my right, and you see all the Pro Bowlers and all the All-Pros on that roster," Barkley said, recalling his first practice as an Eagle. "On that offense, the defense. You know, I ain't gonna lie, I didn't know we were going to have the number one defense. It kind of makes sense now, because with all the talent that we had, they gave us hell in practice and camp."
Probably not as much hell as they gave the Chiefs Sunday night.
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- Craig Ellenport, Athlon Sports
