By Eddie Young
Sports Editor
The Philadelphia Eagles have knocked off the Kansas City Chiefs, winning Super Bowl LIX by a score of 40-22. Philadelphia controlled this game from the beginning, pulling out a win in a dominant fashion that no one expected.
The Chiefs seemed to have no answers all game, as Philadelphia’s defense swarmed three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes the whole game, and their offense cut through Kansas City’s top tier defense like a hot knife through butter.
This game was never close, as the Eagles scored the first 34 points of the game. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the Super Bowl MVP, as he led his squad in both passing and rushing yards while also totaling three touchdowns. His biggest highlight came in the third quarter when he connected on a deep ball to wide receiver Devonta Smith for a 46-yard touchdown that set the score to 34-0.
The Eagles were not Hurts-reliant during this Super Bowl, though, as this win was a full-team effort. Their defense stonewalled Mahomes, sacking him six times while also forcing three turnovers out of him. Edge rusher Josh Sweat led the team with 2.5 sacks on the day. Rookie corner Cooper DeJean had a pick-six in the second quarter, scoring a defensive touchdown in the Super Bowl on his 22nd birthday.
The Eagles offense had run through Saquon Barkley all season, but the Kansas City defense held him in check tonight, as he had 57 rushing yards on 25 carries. However, with the Chiefs paying Barkley a lot of attention in the run game, everything else was opened up in the offense, leading to them putting 40 points on the board.
With this loss, Kansas City missed out on a chance at history by becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. The duo of Head Coach Andy Reid and Mahomes have seemed nearly impossible to stop in the years since they have become a pairing, but they seemed to meet their match tonight in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. It seemed as though Fangio was one step ahead of Reid the entire game when it came to play calling, as the Chiefs just could not get anything going offensively.
The Chiefs went three-and-out five times during this game and only had one drive that went longer than five plays.
Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy put together an impressive performance in the losing effort, as he had eight receptions for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He caught an impressive 50-yard deep ball touchdown from Mahomes in the fourth quarter, but at that point the game was too far out of reach for it to have meant anything.
This became the second Super Bowl victory for Philadelphia, along with their shootout victory over Tom Brady’s Patriots seven years ago in Super Bowl LII.
