New Orleans (AFP) – Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles shattered Kansas City’s dream of an unprecedented Super Bowl ‘three-peat’ with a brutally efficient dismantling of the Chiefs in a 40-22 victory at the Superdome on Sunday. It was sweet revenge for Nick Sirianni’s team who had suffered an agonizing Super Bowl defeat to the Chiefs two years ago in Arizona and criticism after a 2-2 start to the season.
While much of the focus before the game had been on Philadelphia’s running game, Hurts showed the other side of his game, throwing for two touchdowns and 221 yards and running in another score in a brilliant performance. “He had an unbelievable game today when we needed him to,” said Sirianni, suggesting that they may have taken advantage of the Chiefs’ preoccupation with the running game. “When you set out to stop one thing, another thing opens and Jalen was able to take advantage of that. Him and this team are world champions forever,” he said.
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The Chiefs were able to largely limit the impact of the Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley but they managed precious little else on either side of the ball. For all the talk of the Chiefs rising to become the greatest dynasty in the NFL, this was, instead, the kind of loss that can tarnish a legacy. “Too many turnovers, too many penalties, against a good football team you just can’t do that,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Mahomes’ status as one of the great quarterbacks is already secure, but he had a night to forget, throwing two interceptions, giving up a turnover on a fumble, and was sacked six times.
Right from the outset, the Eagles were dominant and they opened their account on their second drive when Hurts found Jahan Dotson wide right with a perfectly floated 28-yard pass. Dotson was ruled to have gone down just short of the end-zone but predictably on the next play, the Eagles pushed Hurts over the line for the score.
The Eagles defense was swarming all over the Chiefs offensive line, and Mahomes struggled to get any kind of momentum. At the start of the second quarter, a Hurts pass intended for AJ Brown was superbly intercepted by safety Bryan Cook, but again the Chiefs were forced to punt. A 48-yard Jake Elliott field goal made it 10-0 but much worse was to come for Kansas City.
Mahomes fired up the middle towards DeAndre Hopkins but didn’t spot Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean who, anticipating the pass, sprinted infield and grabbed the pick, sprinting 38 yards for the touchdown. At 17-0 down, the Chiefs badly needed to find something on offense, but instead, Mahomes was intercepted again with the diving Zack Baun making the play. On the resulting possession, Hurts took full advantage of a Chiefs defense in disarray, finding a wide-open Brown for a 12-yard score that sent the Eagles in with a 24-0 lead.
The stats told the story of a disastrous first half for Mahomes and the Chiefs – he was sacked three times and managed just 34 yards passing, completing six of 14 attempts. The Chiefs had 23 total yards offense and 20 net passing yards in the first half — the second worst of any team in Super Bowl history. All 13 other teams to have been shutout in the first half of a Super Bowl went on to lose the game, and the Chiefs’ attempt to avoid being the 14th required a bright start to the second half.
But the Eagles were in no mood to relent – a 29-yard Elliott field goal maintained the momentum for Philadelphia and then Hurts delivered the killer blow with a magnificent 46-yard hurl downfield to DeVonta Smith for a touchdown that made it 34-0. That finally sparked a reaction from the Chiefs with Mahomes finding receiver Xavier Worthy with a 50-yard pass and then finishing off the five-play drive by finding Worthy again with a 24-yard touchdown pass.
The Eagles were now taking few risks knowing the outcome was in their own hands and they settled for another field goal from Elliott to make it 37-6. Mahomes’ misery — and lack of protection — continued when he fumbled as he was sacked by Milton Williams, who recovered the ball. The Chiefs had two late touchdowns, but the game was long over; the only question now is whether this was the beginning of the end of the Chiefs era? For the Eagles, it was the franchise’s second Super Bowl triumph following the win over another dynasty, the New England Patriots, in the 2017-2018 season.
© 2024 AFP
