The history will have to wait. Or it was made, but in a different way than expected. Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs dreamed of their third consecutive ring, but the Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans became their worst nightmare. They were thrashed by the Philadelphia Eagles (40-22) in a final dominated from start to finish by the franchise that left behind Tom Brady with immense disappointment (2018) and repeated with his heir Patrick Mahomes.The champion is Philadelphia and its MVP is Jalen Hurts (17/22, 293 yards and three touchdowns).It was a final that will go down in legend for the huge thrashing of Nick Sirianni’s Eagles.
What happened at the Superdome in New Orleans seemed like a movie. It was coming. Seconds before the game, Tom Cruise shared ‘unreleased’ footage from the new screening of his legendary Mission Impossible saga. And something like that happened in the most important game in American sports. The Eagles had an ‘impossible mission’ and were the Ethan Hunt (the character played by Cruise) of the story. The kings of the world. No one will yet have a ‘Three-Peat’ in the modern era of American football.
The Super Bowl LIX naturally attracted more attention to the defending champion. But the Chiefs soon realized that it would not be a comfortable game. They experienced a scrappy start to the final, where Philadelphia’s aggressive, physical and mobile defense left no room for Patrick Mahomes. And on offense, the Eagles put up a concrete wall to keep Jalen Hurts out of the game. That’s how he got his first positive passes and the first score after his now classictush push (7-0, 8′). It was a wake-up call, as finals are not won by name alone. And something that would later be the script for the whole battle in New Orleans.
Problems for Mahomes
The Chiefs were out of breath at all times. They could not move the ball and did not take advantage of good moments such as Cook’s interception of Hurts. Because they did not advance, Philadelphia continued to press and Jake Elliott extended the margin with the first field goal of the night (10-0, 23′). And the final confirmation of the problems came when Cooper Dejean intercepted Mahomes. The best player in the world was caught twice and when playing with risk, he gave in. Philadelphia stepped on the accelerator (17-0, 24′).
The other side of the coin was thetotal urgency in the Lombardi defenders. Because there would still be more drama. Another Mahomes error was intercepted by Zack Baun, and Philadelphia punished. AJ Brown found a clean route and the half-time thrashing was remarkable. 24-0, the first Super Bowl with a team at zero at half-time since 2019 (3-0 between Patriots and Rams). The drama had set in when Kendrick Lamar, the best rapper in the world, started his halftime show.
‘Not Like Us’
Kendrick, recent winner of five Grammys,sings ‘Not Like Us’ when he compares himself to other rappers (Drake, specifically). And Philadelphia also took it as a motto. After the resumption, they continued to prevent Mahomes from advancing, and extended the margin with Elliott in the Field Goal (27-0, 37′). It was very similar to that legendary 28-3 comeback by Brady against Atlanta, but in New Orleans the story was different with a rampant Eagles. Because Kansas City did not get past the center of the field and the blows of Philadelphia closed the KO. Like another recovery and 33-0 after a millimetric pass from Hurts that Devonta Smith caught.
The Chiefs nightmare did not seem to wake up until there was half a minute left in the third quarter. That’s when Mahomes appeared, finding several passes of the highest difficulty until he found Worthy. It was his first touchdown. With the final already decided, but at least it served to put pressure on.
Philadelphia reigns
Although it had no effect. Mahomes again started disconnected from a break and Philadelphia punished on defense. In addition, on offense Hurts added several positive plays to ‘burn’ the clock. And Elliott did not fail every time he had to add kicks. An implacable road to coronation in New Orleans.
That came, with no more history than Mahomes’ struggle for honor to tighten the electronic scoreboard somewhat after a brutal pass from afar.Philadelphia, with the 40-22 final, is Super Bowl champion. They add their second Super Bowl after the epic 2017 against Tom Brady and the Patriots, and one that crowns a team that destroyed the one everyone was watching. “Did you think I was finished?” sings Meek Mill, the city’s great rapper. His team takes it literally. They are kings.
