History is written by the victors, and the Eagles now have control of the narrative of the 2024 NFL season. They comfortably defeated the Chiefs 40-22.
The matchup made history for several reasons. Its biggest historic impact was that it denied history. The Chiefs failed to become the first team to three-peat. Although they came closer to three-peating than any other team that won’t be what’s remembered for most. Eagles won their second Super Bowl in franchise history.
Philadelphia Eagles
The only other team to defeat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the Buccaneers, did so by applying pressure to Mahomes. Back in 2020, the Chiefs o-line was weak. They made massive improvements since then and were in virtually every top ten list. However, the Eagles took advantage of the Chiefs’ weaker left side and got six sacks. At least two times a Chiefs offensive lineman ran into Patrick Mahomes due to the extreme pressure from the Eagles.
The Eagles offense was very unique for modern times. In a league that is moving more towards a passing attack, the Eagles found success in running. For starters, Saquon Barkley was the all time leader in rushing yards for an entire season (so including playoffs) with 2,504. Although he was somewhat limited in the Super Bowl, getting just 57 yards, this still led all RBs on the eagles in rushing yards.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The last time a big money RB led a winning team in yardage was Super Bowl 34 when Marshall Faulk led the team with 17 yards. The last run first offense to win a Super Bowl before the Eagles were the 2013 Seahawks, but Marshawn Lynch got outran in the Super Bowl. Barkley has now changed the narrative around building your team around the run in the 2020s, which could improve the RB market that saw Barkley make less money than he wanted.
As important as Barkley is, let’s not forget about the Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts. Hurts set the all time record for rushing yards for a QB in the Super Bowl with 72. He did this while having his best passing performance of the playoffs with 221 yards and two touchdowns. The only downside was that Hurts threw his first interception since week 10. However, Hurts saw a chance to bury the Chiefs and did it with many aggressive passes.
Kansas City Chiefs
For a team that was going for their third straight championship, it was odd to see them look like they didn’t belong on the same field as the Eagles. The offensive line completely folded under pressure. After this happened in Super Bowl 55, the Chiefs massively improved their line. However, I don’t see how you can make the line any better than it is with the current budget restraints.
Under pressure or not, Patrick Mahomes still made many poor decisions. Two of them lead to interceptions. He nearly threw a third but it was called back due to a flag on the Eagles. In the AFC championship, The Chiefs needed to score a season high 32 points to barely beat the Bills. The Chiefs offense is no longer built for high scoring games. Although Mahomes will still likely keep his best QB in the league crown, it’s going to be a long time until he’s back in the Tom Brady talks.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The Chiefs defense had slightly more to hand their heads up about. They honestly did an excellent job of stopping the rush. Saquon Barkley was extremely inefficient as a runner with just 57 yards. Pass rushing meanwhile wasn’t as good. Hurts was sacked two times to Mahomes’ six. The few times the Eagles o-line folded, Hurts was able to extend the play and not make it a total loss. However, the worst defensive performance from the Chiefs was the secondary. They let four Eagles players reach 40 or more receiving yards.
In my preview of the game, I mentioned how the Chiefs were going to be looking for a big game from Travis Kelce. What they got was the exact opposite. At halftime, he had zero receptions. This was the first time in his playoff career this happened. Although he eventually got four receptions for 39 yards in the second half, the game was already over. When the Chiefs needed Kelce to perform he simply didn’t.
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Feature image credit: All-Pro Reels via Flickr
