The Philadelphia Eagles had been here before. As the team took to the field at Caesars Superdome last Sunday, the memory of a devastating loss to the Kansas City NFL team two years ago in Super Bowl LVII still rang fresh. Since then, the Eagles and Kansas City have diverged in their franchise trajectories, but their respective pathways this season — one as the league’s team to beat and other as an NFC powerhouse — brought them back to the game’s biggest stage.
When Philadelphia entered their bye week following the first four weeks of play, it seemed as if their season was all but over — sitting with a 2-2 record, the demons of last season appeared to still be haunting them. To the surprise of the NFL-watching public, however, the Eagles turned their season around at the beginning of October, rediscovering their identity as a physical, run-first team.
Kansas City, on the other hand, has sat comfortably atop the NFL since their Super Bowl win against the Eagles two years ago. They won Super Bowl LVIII last year and, entering last Sunday, had the opportunity to become the first team to win three Super Bowl titles in a row. This year, their offense was nowhere near as explosive as years past, but, with all-pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center, Kansas City found ways to win games in practically any situation.
Ahead of the big game, oddsmakers and pundits alike narrowly favored Kansas City. But proving everyone wrong, the Eagles demolished Kansas City 40-22 in New Orleans on Feb. 9, raising the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in franchise history and putting at least a temporary pause on the longtime air of inevitability surrounding Kansas City.
Even that scoreline does not showcase just how lopsided the game was. Kansas City did not cross midfield until halfway through the third quarter. Kansas City also did not score until less than a minute remained in that quarter, by which point Philadelphia had already amassed an insurmountable 34-point lead.
The Eagles and Kansas City both had short opening drives, trading punts, to open the game. On second down of their second drive, Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts hit wide receiver Jahan Dotson on a go route for a massive 28-yard completion.
An on-field official ruled the play a touchdown, but replay review showed Dotson’s knee down at the 1-yard line. Philadelphia lined up for their unstoppable “tush push” quarterback sneak, and Hurts scored the Eagles’ first touchdown of many.
Adding to the excitement of playing in the biggest game in football, Philadelphia rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean celebrated his 22nd birthday by intercepting a badly underthrown ball from Mahomes, and returning it for a touchdown.
From there, the rout was on. A touchdown pass to Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown put Philadelphia up 24-0 at halftime. The Eagles added on three field goals and a game-sealing touchdown to wide receiver Devonta Smith in the second half. Mahomes found receiver Xaiver Worthy for two touchdowns and receiver DeAndre Hopkins for one in garbage time, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome an insurmountable deficit.
Hurts was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 17 passes on 22 attempts with two touchdowns and an interception. Mahomes, despite an abjectly terrible performance, salvaged his final statline, completing 21 passes on 32 attempts and throwing for 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a fumble lost.
Perhaps the best way to conceptualize how the Eagles won by so much is to look into the battle of both defenses. One failed, conceding 34 points —including a touchdown on an interception return — and the other one locked down arguably the most explosive players in the sport.
While the MVP award goes to a single player, Philadelphia’s defense and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio deserves special recognition. Fangio practically invented the modern style of defense used by almost every team in the NFL, notably excluding Kansas City. In his first year in Philadelphia, the lifelong Eagles fan remade a group that struggled to make big plays into the top unit in the NFL.
Fangio’s scheme rests upon the bedrock principle of a two-high shell. This means that two safeties are positioned around 15 yards off the line of scrimmage, regardless of the play call, putting a cap on the kind of big plays that have made Mahomes a superstar.
Under Fangio, Philadelphia plays a base scheme that positions five players on the line of scrimmage. This formation allows the defense to hide which players are rushing the quarterback and which are dropping into coverage, ultimately confusing the offensive line and the quarterback.
In the Super Bowl, however, Fangio relied instead on a nickel defensive front, only positioning four players on the line of scrimmage. This allowed an additional pass defender to start deeper in coverage. The game plan, evidently, was to try to generate pressure with just the defensive line and allow Mahomes to drop back and pass into coverage.
According to ESPN Research, the Eagles did not blitz once, making them only the sixth team to not do so in the Super Bowl. They were still able to generate pressure through their talent-stacked defensive line, sacking Mahomes six times.
Early in the game, Philadelphia’s pass rush was able to hit Mahomes as he was throwing on two key third downs, forcing wayward passes and Kansas City punts.
The Kansas City defense, led by veteran coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, operates in stark contrast to the Eagles. Spagnulo relies heavily on blitzing to generate pressure on the quarterback, using new formations to throw off the offensive line. By sending extra pass rushers, Spagnuolo aims to disrupt the quarterback and force sacks, incompletions and turnovers.
Perhaps the most important part of Kansas City’s game plan entering the Super Bowl should have been to shut down the offensive player of the year, running back Saquon Barkley. They did do this, holding the best back in the NFL to just 57 yards on 25 attempts. The Eagles, however, pivoted to the passing game in a way Kansas City was unprepared to counter.
In the first quarter, for example, Barkley laid a hard block on a blitzer, converting a potential loss into a clutch 9-yard gain for Hurts. Throughout the game, Philadelphia was able to pick up Kansas City’s pressure in the pass game exceptionally well.
Shut down by the Eagles’ defense and outmatched by the Eagles’ passing attack, Kansas City was powerless to stop Philadelphia from claiming revenge and their second Super Bowl win.
Both teams will next look to the NFL draft, beginning April 24, where Kansas City will select 31st and the Eagles will pick 32nd.
