Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts stood stoically behind the podium Monday morning, voice hoarse from the late-night celebrations with his teammates after he and the defense led the Eagles to a dominant 40-22 victory in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans Sunday night. In turn, Hurts and the Eagles will be welcomed back to the City of Brotherly Love with a hero’s welcome down Broad Street Friday afternoon.
In typical Hurts fashion, he didn’t get emotional and it’s clear the man only wants to do is win.
“When it’s all said and done for me, I won’t measure myself off any numbers or stats, passing yards or touchdowns. I measure it off of rings and championships. That’s how I look at it.”
Well, he earned his first ring as a pro and he once again shined when the lights were the brightest. Hurts was efficient and aside from an under-thrown pass when he was pressured that was intercepted, Hurts played a near flawless game to join Nick Foles as the only Super Bowl MVP’s in franchise history.
It was clear Kansas City wanted to take away Saquon Barkley and force Hurts to win the game with his arm and legs and once again outplayed the league’s poster child in Patrick Mahomes. Hurts completed 17 of his 22 passes, threw for a pair of touchdowns, including this perfect deep ball to DeVonta Smith while adding a touchdown thanks to the “Brotherly Shove”. He also ran for 72 yards, a new Super Bowl record, breaking his own mark he set two years ago in the loss to the Chiefs.
Hurts made sure to show gratitude to the defense who showed why that unit was ranked as the best in the NFL this season.
“The old cliché defense wins championships,” Hurts said. “But the way they’ve been able to play all year with young guys coming in, flying in and making huge plays, I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Nick Sirianni echoed the same sentiments and praised defensive coordinator Vic Fangio who transformed this defense into perhaps the best in franchise history.
“Vic Fangio is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and might have cemented that he is the best of all time after last night,” Sirianni said.
The defense was sensational. Mahomes was sacked six times while the Eagles only rushed four men all game long, allowing seven players to drop back in coverage, making it near impossible for Mahomes to do anything offensively. The Eagles held Mahomes to 257 yards and picked him off twice, including a pick six by Cooper DeJean on his birthday. The three touchdowns Mahomes threw were in garbage time, when the game was well out of reach.
It was apparent that this team became close over the course of the season, especially after the disappointing 2-2 start. Sirianni alluded to last year’s disastrous tailspin that derailed the season as a reason why this team was able to rattle of 16 wins over their final 17 games.
“When I looked back at last year and as crazy as this sounds, I’m grateful for last year because it shaped us to who we are this year. When you embrace adversity, it does something to you personally.”
Both Hurts and Sirianni mentioned the journey and how instrumental it was for this team to win the Lombardi Trophy after they felt they let it slip away in 2022.
“The journey of mine has been unprecedented,” Hurts reflected on his career to this point. “I didn’t dream of these moments. It was more so the work and determination to be the best I can be.”
“You don’t know how close a team will be until you go through the journey together,” Sirianni said. “When you embrace adversity, it does something to you personally. They would put phones down and do stuff together, that was key. You can’t substitute the time they’ve spent together with dinners and in the game room.“
Although Hurts said that this team “hasn’t arrived” from their journey, the quarterback and the Eagles will make a euphoric pit stop. A stop to Broad Street with an entire city electrified with pure enthusiasm, admiration and appreciation for arguably the best team in franchise history.
“Bringing a championship back to Philadelphia means everything,” Hurts said.
Come Friday and beyond, hundreds of thousands of fans will be expressing what he and this team means to them.
The Eagles will host their Championship parade in Philadelphia on Friday, February 14th, 2025.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
