Our streak of competitive Super Bowls came to an end Sunday, as the Philadelphia Eagles dominated Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, and denied what would have been the first three-peat of the Super Bowl era. The final score was not even an accurate representation of how this game went, as the Eagles were up, 40-6, in the fourth quarter!
Many believed a path to victory for Philly hinged on the performance of star running back Saquon Barkley. However, he wasn’t even the team’s leading rusher. The first-year Eagle rushed 25 times for 57 yards and caught six passes for 40 yards. The Eagles defense is the reason the city of Philadelphia finds itself atop the NFL world.
Remember that stat everyone liked to throw around this week? That defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was 0-8 vs. Mahomes? Well, he never had this talented of a defense, or a stabilizing force like Jalen Hurts captaining the other side of the ball. It was clear very early on that the Eagles defense was going to control the tempo of this matchup. Through five drives, the Chiefs scored zero points, moved the chains just once and picked up 14 total yards on 16 plays. It was the fewest total yards through five drives that Mahomes had ever gained in 133 career starts, according to CBS Sports Research. Philly’s defense helped spark a 24-0 first-half run, allowing 23 total yards in the first two quarters — the second-fewest in a first half in Super Bowl history.
When it was all said and done, Josh Sweat got to Mahomes for 2.5 sacks, Milton Williams added two sacks, Jordan Davis recorded a sack and Jalyx Hunt had half a sack. The Eagles racked up six sacks and 16 pressures despite not blitzing ONCE on the 42 Chiefs dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. Philadelphia became just the sixth team to record six sacks and three takeaways in Super Bowl history. Mahomes had never been sacked six times in an NFL game before.
Speaking of turnovers, rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean became the second first-year player to record a pick-six in a Super Bowl, NFL Defensive Player of the Year finalist Zack Baun picked off Mahomes to set up the Eagles with excellent field position to extend their lead to 24 in the second quarter, and Williams strip-sacked Mahomes in the fourth quarter. Those three turnovers are a perfect representation of the talent the Eagles possess at all three levels.
While Hurts won Super Bowl MVP after completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and leading the Eagles with 72 rushing yards and another touchdown, Fangio (or the defensive line as a whole) were equally deserving of the award. For this unit to dominate the Chiefs offensive line on virtually every dropback, get to Mahomes six times without blitzing, AND force the best quarterback in the game today to look antsy and uncomfortable in the pocket — that’s what decided this game.
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Will Brinson
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