Broad Street is erupting with euphoria in the early hours of Monday morning after the Philadelphia Eagles decimated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.
Eagles DEMOLISH the Chiefs
The matchup was largely anticipated to be a close affair. The Chiefs were chasing a historic three-peat, and the Eagles vying for revenge. It was the Birds who filled their plate and finished every last crumb in one of the most dominant wins in Super Bowl history.
Nobody quite imagined the game would play out quite like this. A defensive masterclass from Vic Fangio’s troops that included a beautiful pick 6 for birthday boy Cooper DeJean helped completely silence Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, holding them scoreless through most of the second half.
The pass-rush, rejuivinated by the returning Brandon Graham, was on an absolute mission, terrorizing Mahomes and pressuring him on close to 50% of his dropbacks, bringing him down 6 times. All of this despite never sending a single blitz. To get that level of production without ever using an extra pass-rusher is unheard of, but Philadelphia made it possible on the biggest stage of them all.
Josh Sweat led the Birds with 2.5 sacks on the night, but it was a real committee effort, with Jalyx Hunt, Milton Williams, and Jordan Davis all getting in on the action.
On offense, we were given another strong reminder as to just how good Jalen Hurts really is. On a night where Saquon Barkley was largely suffocated by the Chiefs, it was the Philadelphia quarterback who pushed his team into the endzone 3 times (2 passing touchdown, 1 rushing) and accounting for over 220 passing yards in total.
A rogue interception did occur early in the game, but Hurts remained surgical and unafraid to launch deep balls to the likes of A.J Brown and DeVonta Smith, reinforcing what we already knew. Jalen Hurts is the franchise quarterback fans have been pining for, and that this offense can hurt you in multiple ways.
It’s all well and good keeping Saquon Barkley quiet, but can you keep Smitty, Brown, and the supporting cast of receivers out of the endzone? Kansas City struggled just as Washington did in the NFC Championship game, and it led to one of the most complete performances we have ever seen from a Philadelphia team.
The scary part for the rest of the NFL is just how much better this team could become over the next few years. Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell, Jalyx Hunt, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith…ALL on rookie contracts.
Jalen Hurts, A.J Brown, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley and a stacked offensive line…ALL in Philadelphia for the long-term. We can get excited about the future another time, but as of today, there’s one thing that matters.
Despite all of the noise, all of the criticism, all of the struggles early on, this Eagles team soared to the heights we knew they could reach and achieved what they set out to do two years ago, winning the Super Bowl.
Jalen Hurts is a World Champion. Nick Sirianni, who many fans wanted out of the City following a terrible loss to Tampa Bay earlier in the season, is a World champion. Saquon Barkley, who was shockingly let go by the Giants, is a World Champion. The City of Philadelphia is World Champions once again.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
