THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The majority of talk leading up to Super Bowl 59, if you’ll excuse the absence of Roman numerals, was of the Kansas City Chiefs making history by winning an unprecedented third straight title, a Threepeat if you will. This perhaps played into the Philadelphia Eagles' hands, as they went a little under the radar. They had their own stories to fulfill, and that is exactly what they did, as they dominated a game with a defense that was ranked number one for a reason.
The history books will show an 18-point difference – large enough by NFL standards, but the 40-22 score does not show a true reflection of the game, as two touchdowns from Kansas City were in “garbage time”. The game was well and truly over by halftime, with the Eagles 24-0 ahead, and even though you can never count out champion teams, this one had only made 23 yards in total in that opening half, and one first down. It was the worst time to produce your worst performance.
It was a relentless Philly D that chased and pressured, ultimately sacking superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times. So often you see Mahomes get out of such situations, and make plays that defy the odds, but this time there was nowhere to run. Every time he had evaded one man, another was right in his path, knocking him off balance, and causing errant passes, two of which were intercepted, one for a touchdown. This was just one game the Chiefs could not get into, and even the usually imperious Head Coach Andy Reid had no answers on his laminated spreadsheet of plays.
So, let's shift the narrative, and instead of how poor the Chiefs were, the reason why was because the Eagles were so good, In fact really good. For so long this season they were in the shadow of the Detroit Lions, a team that many saw destined for greatness, but Philadelphia has a special team of their own and now they are a Super Bowl champion for a second time. Jalen Hurts is sometimes hard to read. His emotions have been somewhat hidden by his drive to succeed. He didn’t manage to find success two years ago against the very same side, when he played perhaps an even better all-round game than in New Orleans. Nevertheless, his numbers held up, and even though he threw a stray pass that was intercepted, he remained calm.
Hurts can now look back at a job well done, with a team that was coached impeccably, not just on the night, but the whole season. Nick Sirianni was a hounded man a month into the season. A late collapse last year which ultimately saw them bow out in the Wild Card round, was backed up with a 2-2 start, and the largely unforgiving fans in the home of brotherly love, saw no future for him as Head Coach. However, just like the Philadelphians themselves, he is built of tough stuff and he stuck to his task and won all but one of their remaining games to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft in the Superdome.
Speaking directly after the game on Fox TV, Hurts, the game MVP was quick to salute his teammates. "Defense wins championships. We saw how they played today. We saw the difference they made in the game. They gave us opportunities, they gave us short fields, and we were able to do what we do." Incidentally, the one loss after that opening month came after Hurts was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the first quarter. He may not have got the highlight reels buzzing but such was his determination to make this season – and this moment – his that he would sooner take this win, and what the future brings, than the maybe somewhat secondary award of League MVP. You’d have to ask Buffalo Bills play caller Josh Allen if he’d rather have that accolade or the feeling of a Super Bowl win.
Hurts continued post-match. “I just think back to all the hard work, all the effort, all the determination over the years and then carrying that over to this team and Philadelphia, being able to build something special over my tenure here and Coach [Nick Sirianni’s] tenure here as well. Earlier in the year, we set out to do this and this was the ultimate mission. It looks like we did it. I’m still processing it. You work so hard for something and it comes, you really want to soak it in.”
After two long years of getting back to put the record straight for their loss in Super Bowl 57, the Eagles are now the hunter becoming the hunted. They will have time to soak it in, but already those in the front office will be planning how to stay ahead of a pack that is as ferocious as ever. They cannot afford to stand still, as the competition remains fierce.
That is something that the Kansas City Chiefs know all too well, and they will also be out to identify areas of concern from this game and build again as they lick their wounds. Coach Reid knows the feeling of winning and losing in the big game. “Today was a rough day. We didn’t really play well in any of the phases. I didn’t coach good enough. They did a nice job. I’m proud of our guys, though, for the battle, the fight that they put in throughout the year, and all the games that they played here over the last few years. We’ll learn from this. Like most games here, when you don’t do very well, you learn from it as a coach, you learn from it as a player, and you move on.”
As we look ahead to next season, the Chiefs will still be the team to beat, but now they have a rival, one that is no longer flying under the radar. The Eagles are now true champions and will want to build their own legacy, maybe forging their path as a dynasty team. The pieces are in place, with a young talented core in its roster. Saquon Barkley a record-breaking running back turned 28 on Super Bowl Sunday, and explosive players such as AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith have already signed contracts keeping them as Eagles, and the defense can be kept together by the likes of Jalen Carter, Milton Williams, and Cooper DeJean.
With his son in his arms, the happy tears started to flow, and Sirianni, who was traditionally bathed in Gatorade on the celebratory sideline, summed it all up. “We had to come out and play our best. What a lesson to the whole world about teamwork. This is the ultimate team game. You can’t be great without the greatness of others and this was a great performance by everybody. It took everybody.”
