Defense, the coaches tell us, wins championships. And though the modern-day NFL sometimes makes that old saying sound silly, the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles say otherwise. On Sunday, Feb. 9, in New Orleans that has hosted a record-tying 11 Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs’ quest for history never got off the ground. Philadelphia’s swarming defense held Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending champions to just 23 yards in the first half, led by 24 points at halftime and rolled to a 40-22 victory that kept the Chiefs from becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowl titles and delivered the second title (first one in 2018) in Eagles history.
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Chiefs from start to finish, as Eagles players were already dumping Gatorade on head coach Nick Sirianni with nearly three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Sunday’s game was a disaster on nearly all fronts for the Chiefs offense, as star quarterback Patrick Mahomes had perhaps the worst game of his decorated playoff career: He took six sacks, fumbled the ball and threw two costly interceptions, both of which resulted in Eagles touchdowns. “Three big plays in a row,” Eagles defensive lineman Josh Sweat said with a huge smile. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh. It’s just that day.’”
HC Nick Sirianni of the Eagles is showered with Gatorade during Super Bowl LIX
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose cell phone lock screen for the past two years has been a photo of him walking off the Super Bowl LVII field in Arizona surrounded by yellow and red confetti after losing to the Chiefs, was phenomenal. Now named Super Bowl MVP, he threw for 221 yards, rushed for 72 and scored three total touchdowns, including a patented Eagles tush push in the first quarter and a third-quarter 46-yard dagger to wide receiver DeVonta Smith that pushed the lead to 34. The only bright spot for Kansas City was its containment of superstar Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who rushed for only 57 yards. But that brought Barkley’s total rush yards to 2,447 yards for the season, including playoffs — the highest single-season total in NFL history.
“This is the ultimate team game. You can’t be great without the greatness of others. Great performance by everybody — offense, defense, special teams,” Sirianni said. “We didn’t really ever care what anyone thought about how we won, or their opinions. All we wanted to do was win.” They rolled in with what they believed was the better team and left no doubt. Congratulations to the 2024 Eagles!