The champs are here

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie celebrates with his Super Bowl LIX champs. Photo: Webster Riddick

Thanks to a swarming defense and an MVP-caliber performance from quarterback Jalen Hurts, your Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions.

By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN

NEW ORLEANS—In boxing, the saying goes that a contender has to not only beat a champion, but also has to knock him out. You didn’t leave it in the judges’ hands.

With the general perception among NFL fans that the Kansas City Chiefs have benefitted from favorable calls and with the Philadelphia Eagles still smarting from their loss in Super Bowl LVII, a combination of a staunch Eagles defense and a great performance from quarterback Jalen Hurts led to a Super Bowl LIX result that left no room for doubt.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts prepares a throw. Photo: Webster Riddick

The Eagles destroyed the Chiefs bid for an unprecedented third Super Bowl championship with a resounding 40-22 victory in front of a crowd of 65,619 that turned the Caesars Superdome into Lincoln Financial Field South. It was the Eagles’ second Super Bowl title in the last eight years.

It was sweet revenge for an Eagles team that was on the bad end of a bitter three-point loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. It was even sweeter for Hurts, who endured the doubts and criticism after last year’s unceremonious first-round playoff exit.

Against the Chiefs, Hurts was an efficient 17-22 for 221 yards and two touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown and one interception. The former Oklahoma star had a passer rating of 119.7 and broke his own Super Bowl rushing record by gaining 72 yards en route to being named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He also joins Hall of Famer Joe Montana in being the only quarterback to run for a touchdown and throw a touchdown pass.

Eagles sack Patrick Mahomes. Photo: Webster Riddick

“I took great pride in never backing down from a challenge, always turning my negatives into positives, my weaknesses into strengths,” Hurts said during his postgame press conference.

But the big story of this game was a relentless Eagles’ defense that shut down Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense in a way that no one else has this season. They forced three turnovers that led to Eagles scores. For all intents and purposes, the Birds defense ended the competitive portion of the game in the first half by jumping out to a 24-0 lead and holding the Chiefs to just 23 yards of offense on 20 total plays. Mahomes completed just six of 14 passes for just 33 yards in the first half.

“The biggest thing is to try to contain the quarterback, and I think our D-line did a great job of that all night,” Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean said. “…group rushing up, keeping him in the pocket, not allowing him to create explosive plays when he gets outside the pocket.”

For the game, the Eagles defensive line sacked Mahomes six times. Although he went on to complete 21-of-32 of his passes for 257 and three touchdowns, Mahomes and company were already out of the game by that time.

The Chiefs were held to just 275 yards of total offense, 3 of 11 on third down conversions and just 12 first downs for the game.

What made this special for the defense is that they pressured Mahomes based on the strength of the defensive line and edge rushers without having to blitz. Edge rusher Josh Sweat had 2.5 sacks, defensive lineman Milton Williams had two sacks and defensive tackle Jordan Davis had one sack.

“[The] Defense all year has been physical,” Sweat said. “That’s one of our biggest things and we just executed. We already know we’re going to be physical. We know we’re going to run to the ball, and we just have to get it done.”

The Philadelphia Eagles struck first on their second possession of the game on a yard run on the “tush push” by Hurts. The score was set up by a 28-yard pass from Hurts to wide receiver Jahan Dotson that was an apparent touchdown, but it was overruled by the replay officials.

Hurts’ touchdown capped a 7-play, 69-yard, 3:25 scoring drive. In the second quarter. The Eagles got a 48-yard field goal from Jake Elliott.

DeJean intercepted an errant Mahomes pass and took it to the endzone for a 38-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 17-0 lead.

On the Chiefs’ next possession, Eagles inside linebacker Zack Baum picked off another bad Mahomes pass in the red zone at the Kansas City 14.

Two plays later, Hurts hit A.J. Brown for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Eagles a 24-0 lead at the intermission. In the third quarter, the Eagles put the game away on a 29-yard field goal by Elliott and a 46-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Elliott kicked four field goals.

Oddly enough, the game was won without a dominating performance from Saquon Barkley, who was held 57 yards on 25 carries by the Chiefs’ defense. But Kansas City’s defense couldn’t stop Hurts and the offense from putting up points.

“We knew that the focus would be on the run game and we took advantage of it. We took advantage of it in the passing game. Jalen [Hurts] came out and played big and it took a team effort. Coaches, everyone in the Eagles organization, it takes all of us,” Barkley said.

But now that the Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions, a parade is coming. The City of Philadelphia has announced that the parade will take place on Friday, although no further details were available at press time.

As Valentines to the City of Philadelphia go, a Philadelphia Eagles victory parade is a nice one.