Three Studs, Three Duds From Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX Butt-Kicking Of Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs were on the precipice of immorality as all they needed was one more win to clinch an exclusive three-peat.
But instead, the Philadelphia Eagles stopped the Chiefs dead in their tracks Sunday night.
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The Eagles used a dominant defensive performance to turn Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome into a laugher, routing the Chiefs, 40-22, to capture the Lombardi Trophy. Philadelphia jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and kept burying the Chiefs into an ever bigger hole by scoring the first 10 points of the second half.
It was a superb showing from the Eagles and a lackluster one from the Chiefs on football’s biggest stage. Here are three studs and three duds from Super Bowl LIX:
STUDS
Josh Sweat
The Eagles edge rusher was a one-man wrecking crew to leave an indelible mark on the game. Sweat, who heard from New England Patriots fans in the lead up to the Super Bowl, got to Patrick Mahomes early and often to rack up an impressive showing. Sweat totaled 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, six total tackles and three quarterback hits. He also knocked Chiefs tackle Joe Thuney back into Mahomes on a key interception right before halftime.
Eagles Defensive Line
Sweat wasn’t alone in applying immense pressure to Mahomes. The entire Eagles defensive line had a hand in it. The Eagles sacked Mahomes a career-high six times and they never even called a blitz to take down the superstar quarterback. That’s as impressive as it comes from the players up front from the Eagles as they turned in a performance that will be remembered for a long time.
Jalen Hurts
Hurts kept proving naysayers wrong as he was masterful with both his arm and his legs to earn Super Bowl MVP honors. Hurts shook off an early pick and completed 17-of-22 passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns. That would have been enough to lead the Eagles to victory, but Hurts added another dynamic to Philadelphia’s offense with his rushing ability. The 26-year-old carried the ball 11 times for 72 yards and one score. The Chiefs really didn’t have an answer for Hurts.
DUDS
Travis Kelce
The narrative all season was Kelce was saving his best for the most important games. That ended up not being the case for the Super Bowl. The Chiefs star tight end was invisible in the loss. He didn’t make his first catch until 3:32 left in the third quarter. Kelce finished with just four catches for 39 yards as he failed to come through for the Eagles.
Chiefs Offensive Line
Kansas City’s unit up front was the weakness of the Chiefs and it showed big time with Mahomes being under siege from his first snap. The Chiefs sieve of an offensive line had Mahomes running around all night and with that unit faltering, Kansas City racked up just 23 yards of total offense in the first half.
Patrick Mahomes
This Super Bowl loss will stay on Mahomes’ résumé for the rest of his career. He turned in a clunker of a performance although it wasn’t entirely his fault — see the offensive line above. But his two first-half interceptions in Kansas City territory were game-changers as the Eagles turned those picks into points, including a pick-six by Cooper DeJean. Mahomes turned the ball over once more when he got stripped by Milton Williams in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs always expect Mahomes, who finished completing 21-of-32 passes for 257 yards with three touchdowns, to turn into Superman, but in this Super Bowl, he was much more like Clark Kent.