The Philadelphia Eagles embarrassed the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, rolling to a 40-22 victory in Super Bowl LIX to seize the Lombardi Trophy for themselves. It was a defining moment of gratification for so many core Eagles who suffered defeat on the NFL’s biggest stage just two years ago, against the same Chiefs dynasty, from quarterback Jalen Hurts to coach Nick Sirianni. Now, forever, they too are world champions.
And yet, some fans might also be wondering: Can these Eagles go a step further and, besides just upsetting the Chiefs on the Super Bowl stage, steal Kansas City’s entire thunder as the NFL’s next dynasty?
The Eagles, after all, are no stranger to games of this magnitude. Their win on Sunday marked their third Super Bowl appearance in the last eight seasons alone, and their second championship of that timeframe. Many clubs are still desperate for a single cameo in the NFL’s title matchup. And some of the Eagles’ top leaders, like Hurts and Sirianni, are still relatively fresh on the scene, concluding just their fourth season together in Philly.
We should start by politely reminding Eagles fans to bask in this moment. Because things change in a hurry in the NFL. Super Bowl LIX may well have been an utter domination of the Chiefs, but before long, the page will have turned to 2025. And while history will always record the 2024 Eagles as the best of the best, it’s another thing entirely to forecast this group as potential repeat champs and so on. Yes, the Chiefs just went back-to-back, but there’s a reason that feat is so rare in this league.
Remember 2017, when the Eagles won their first Lombardi Trophy against all odds? Many level-headed fans at the time figured Philly would live up to then-coach Doug Pederson’s proclamation of a “new norm” that involved yearly Super Bowl contention, especially with Carson Wentz, the hot young quarterback of the time, not even getting the chance to showcase his talent on the big stage. Well, Pederson was out of the job four years later, and Wentz just spent this Sunday on the Chiefs sidelines, holding a clipboard while watching Patrick Mahomes take a beating.
Remember 2022, when Hurts went blow for blow with Mahomes in a Super Bowl LVII defeat? Many level-headed fans figured Hurts would have the Eagles right back, now that he’d established himself as one of the top up-and-coming quarterbacks in the game. Well, 2023 was an abject disaster down the stretch, and Sirianni’s job quickly seemed in jeopardy as he shuffled through top assistants. Hurts and Sirianni certainly rebounded much quicker than the previous Eagles regime, thanks in part to master roster-building by general manager Howie Roseman, but the point is, getting back to Super Bowls — let alone winning them — is always a tall task in the NFL.
Even so, if ever there were a team worth hyping as a legitimate Chiefs challenger moving forward, it’d probably be the Eagles. Hurts is remarkably just 26, despite already playing two strong Super Bowls. Sirianni will only be entering Year 5 atop the staff in 2025, and he may well have the sturdy Vic Fangio back as his top defensive aide. And the rest of the all-star talent is both rich and young: Saquon Barkley is practically the old guy, just turning 28 on Super Bowl Sunday, as fellow playmakers like A.J. Brown (27) and DeVonta Smith (26) are locked up for the distant future, while the defense is littered with first- or second-year stalwarts like Jalen Carter (23), Milton Williams (25), Cooper DeJean (22) and Quinyon Mitchell (23).
Every year brings new challenges: injuries, slumps, tough schedules, you name it. The 2024 Eagles simply won’t be the 2025 Eagles, and beyond. But as long as the critical leaders remain in place, and remain on their trajectory as battle-tested winners, why can’t the Eagles set the standard moving forward? They thoroughly embarrassed the league’s ultimate powerhouse in Super Bowl LIX. And while their talent always suggested a Lombardi run would be possible, the youth of their blue-chip pieces ensured they were also not a win-or-blow-it-up situation. Now, they’ve won, and the only thing left to do, besides celebrate, is keep on building.
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