Super Bowl LIX Recap
Takeaways from the Eagles’ Dominate Win Over the Chiefs
Super Bowl LIX is officially in the books, and it was quite the game. The Philadelphia Eagles shut out the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half with a 24-0 lead and went on to win the game 40-22. How did this happen though? Personally, I was very confident that Kansas City would win and three-peat, as I made clear in my Super Bowl predictions on the Unlucky Topics podcast.
Obviously, the Chiefs did not win and played quite an ugly game, while the Eagles seemed to thrive. What should we learn from this matchup, and what does this mean for the future of these two teams? Here are my takeaways from Super Bowl LIX:
The Kansas City Chiefs are not invincible…
The first takeaway is that the Chiefs are simply not as good as they would have had all of us believe. I certainly had some doubts of my own towards the beginning of the season, but I pushed these aside knowing that Mahomes and the Chiefs always find a way in the playoffs….or so we thought. While the Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season with a 15-2 record, they didn’t exactly have a difficult season for the team that won the last two Super Bowls. Even with this easier schedule, they didn’t put up more than 30 points in a single game, and many of these games came down to one key possession or “miracle play.” Obviously, none of these things matter because they were still able to win all but two of their regular season games (although one was with all of their backups playing). All this to say is that the Chiefs are not the best team on paper, but they finish games…that is, until they met the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles seemed to expose every single weakness in both the Kansas City offense and defense. Mahomes, Kelce, and other offensive stars got shut out in the first half. The defense allowed 40 points and loads of huge plays. The Chiefs were playing from behind the entire game. In the words of Chiefs’ Tight End Travis Kelce, “We haven’t played that bad all year.”
What all this doesn’t mean is the Chiefs are a terrible team. They are still one of the best teams in the NFL, and that isn’t going to change for a while. What this does mean is that the Chiefs invincibility era (pun intended) might well be over. No team is perfect, and the Chiefs’ flaws (though they may be few) eventually caught up with them. The Chiefs will certainly still be contenders, but they have their work cut out for them.
…and Mahomes is not perfect
Super Bowl LIX might have been Mahomes’ worst game in his entire NFL career. Not only did he lose the Super Bowl and his chance for a three-peat (at least for now), but he played a very ugly game. He threw two interceptions (one of which was a pick-six). While his 21 completions out of 32 passes for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns, is nothing to scoff at, this definitely wasn’t Mahomes’ best game. He appeared shaky the entire game, and we didn’t see the same “Mahomes Magic” that we are accustomed to seeing in these high-stakes playoff games. Obviously, there is something to be said about his offensive line failing the entire game (we will talk about it), but nonetheless this was not a good performance from Patrick Mahomes.
I still think Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL. You simply can’t argue much with that statement. Likewise, there also isn’t much to argue that Super Bowl LIX was an ugly game for Patrick Mahomes, although he did show his skills in the 4th quarter by orchestrating two big touchdown drives to limit the damage. Nonetheless, this game showcased that Mahomes (like all other quarterbacks) is not perfect and does indeed have flaws.
Jalen Hurts is a top 5 quarterback in the NFL
Out of all the lessons I’m listing here, this is perhaps the most controversial, but why should it be? Going into this game, the doubts and questions about Hurts were endless. I will admit that I had my own doubts about Jalen Hurts going into this game. Nonetheless, Hurts answered all of these questions in this game with a monster performance. He converted 17 of his 22 attempts for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns, and just 1 interception. To top all of this off, he led the Eagles to a Super Bowl and was awarded a much-deserved Super Bowl MVP award.
It is impossible to deny that this was a huge game for Jalen Hurts, but when compared with other NFL quarterbacks, many may still be hesitant to say he is top 5. They would argue that he isn’t on the same level as Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow, but I would argue that he is. He is fresh off besting Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX, which was his second Super Bowl appearance in his five years as an NFL quarterback. Keep in mind that none of these other guys have won a Super Bowl (Lamar and Allen have never even made it to one). Hurts already has two appearances, one ring, and Super Bowl MVP. Sounds like a top 5 quarterback to me!
Defense does indeed win championships
While Jalen Hurts was spectacular, the Eagles’ defensive line are the true MVPs of this game! The Chiefs’ O-Line couldn’t handle the pressure (quite literally). Mahomes was running for his life on every single play throughout the entirety of this game. The Eagles didn’t blitz a single time, but put massive pressure on Patrick Mahomes with 42 dropbacks, 16 pressures, and 6 sacks. They also forced a fumble and forced him into throwing two bad passes which were intercepted. These numbers are just off the charts, and are a big reason the Eagles won this game. It comes down to this: If Mahomes is running for his life and doesn’t have time to throw the ball, he can’t make a play. What does this lead to? One first down and a total of zero points on the board for the Kansas City Chiefs after the first half of the game. We knew going into this game how dominate this D-Line was, but I think we still somehow underestimated them.
The Chiefs lost; their run defense didn’t
The Eagles’ defense wasn’t the only good defense in Super Bowl LIX. The Chiefs’ defense was also good….kinda? One of the biggest challenges for the Chiefs going into Super Bowl LIX was how to stop Saquon Barkley. I’m sure this was a big topic of discussion in preparation for this game, and they succeeded at this feat! The Chiefs’ run defense stopped Barkley better than any other team this season. They limited Saquon Barkley to 2.3 yards per carry (57 yards on 25 carries), which was a season low for him. No other team this season was able to shut down Saquon Barkley as effectively as the Kansas City Chiefs did in Super Bowl LIX. As for the rest of the Chiefs’ defense, it was not so good….they allowed Jalen Hurts to pick them apart with 221 pass yards and 72 rush yards for a total of 3 touchdowns. My take is that the Chiefs were too focused on stopping Saquon Barkley that they forgot about the rest of the Eagles team, which is what allowed the Eagles to put up 40 points and get their Super Bowl ring.
Neither team is done winning
Philadelphia Eagles: After their performance in Super Bowl LIX, all doubts about the Eagles are down the drain. They are competitors through and through, and I can certainly see them running it back next year. These players and coaches aren’t going anywhere, and I see them having a massive season next year with quite possibly another Super Bowl appearance.
Kansas City Chiefs: While their three-peat hopes may have been crushed, the Chiefs are far from fading into the background. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if they get themselves another ring next year. When the Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, it was an ugly game with the final score being 9-31 in favor of the Bucs. Nonetheless, the Chiefs picked themselves back up, made some adjustments to their O-line and other positions, and ended up winning the Super Bowl two years later (Super Bowl LVII). This loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the season that followed, shaped the Chiefs into the team they are today. I predict a similar thing will happen this offseason.
Mark my words, at least one of these two teams will be in next year’s Super Bowl…