Eagles Finish the Job, Leave No Doubt in Super Bowl LIX Rout

It didn’t feel real when the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl on Feb. 4, 2018. The last play alone was a million mini-moments in its own right. Legendary quarterback Tom Brady taking the snap. Franchise icon Brandon Graham nearly dragging him down in the backfield. Brady escaping and launching a moon ball that seemed to scrape the U.S. Bank Stadium rafters. The ball bouncing off the pile of hands. A second bounce off defensive back Patrick Robinson that briefly extended the play. A third bounce of the ball, this time off the turf before Julian Edelman could snatch it.

Looking at the clock and seeing there was no time left. Understanding that meant the game was over. Understanding that meant that the Eagles had won the game. That they had truly, actually, really won the Super Bowl.

It didn’t feel real again when midnight green and white confetti fell for the second time at the end of an NFL season on Sunday night in New Orleans. But while it celebrated the same moment, it wasn’t for the same reasons. The second Lombardi Trophy that is Broad St. Bound was secured by three meaningless kneel-downs by Kenny Pickett. It was the product of another stellar offensive showing — like in Super Bowl LII, the Eagles hit the 40-point mark, led by a legendary quarterback performance.

But the defense didn’t wait until the late moments for its defining moment. Without rushing more than four players a single time, the Eagles flummoxed another great of the game in Patrick Mahomes from start to finish. They forced Mahomes to throw multiple interceptions for just the third time in 21 career playoff games, taking the trenches-focused approach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used to score the previously only Super Bowl victory over Mahomes and amplifying it to the highest degree.

What felt like a feeling-out first quarter became a sign of things to come. The Eagles could’ve potentially led by more than seven points if not for a controversial offensive pass-interference penalty that nullified a fourth-down deep shot to A.J. Brown on the opening drive. Giving the ball to Mahomes didn’t phase them. Three-and-out. A clinical touchdown drive immediately after on a successful long throw to Jahan Dotson of all people, setting up a seal-popping Tush Push.

Jalen Hurts‘ only blemish in Super Bowl LXIII was a second-quarter fumble returned for a touchdown, and it made the difference in a down-to-the-wire finish. His red-zone interception on the second play of the second quarter felt like it could open up a similar storyline. But the Chiefs were completely bottled up, converting a first down on their opening play and failing to do so again until the second half.

Philadelphia’s pass rush made the difference on this Sunday night just as it did in early February two years prior. In Phoenix, it was for worse, as the league’s third-leading sack defense in history couldn’t gain traction. Instead, they forced Mahomes into a third-and-long pick-six by birthday boy Cooper DeJean thanks to consecutive sacks by Josh Sweat (the second he split with Jalyx Hunt) and another interception just before halftime when Sweat forced Chiefs left tackle Joe Thuney into Mahomes, leading to an inaccurate throw and diving grab by Zack Baun.

It was impossible to be anything but thrilled with the Eagles’ performance on the game’s biggest stage. When Brown showed some discontentment after Hurts failed to find him on a third down, he caught a wide-open touchdown from 12 yards out two plays after the Baun INT. It ballooned the lead to a jaw-dropping 24-point margin, one shy of the Super Bowl record.

A 12-play, 6:42 drive following another lightning-quick defensive stop to open the second half stretched the lead to four scores when the once-again unflappable Jake Elliott nailed his second of three field goals. By then, the writing was on the wall, even against a Chiefs team with several future Hall of Famers on the field and the coaching staff. Another Hurts touchdown throw, this one a half-field backyard-style bomb to DeVonta Smith, didn’t even cement it — by that point, the Birds were just showing off.

It was an extra special night to celebrate for those who were homegrown, although many Eagles fit that label for different reasons. Winning a championship in the City of Brotherly Love means more for Vic Fangio, the throwback defensive coordinator who grew up cheering for the Philly sports teams in Dunmore, PA. His hometown is only about two hours away from State College, where Saquon Barkley burst into the national picture (Dotson is also a Nittany Lion). Even on a quiet night, Barkley still made history, becoming the first player to rush for 2,500 yards in a season (regular season plus playoffs) and fulfilling life-long dreams (even if some of those lives may just be starting).

There were the guys who used to call Super Bowl LIX’s venue home. Baun and C.J. Gardner-Johnson both came to the Eagles in contract years — Baun this year on a one-year prove-it deal, Gardner-Johnson in a 2022 trade before the last season of his rookie deal. Gardner-Johnson re-instilled the swagger the Eagles defense desperately needed when he re-signed last spring after a one-year sabbatical in Detroit following a strong 2022 season. Baun became one of the best value signings in franchise history after a position change, not just filling the gap left by T.J. Edwards and Kzyir White but elevating Philadelphia’s play in the middle of the field by notching a turnover in every game of the playoffs.

There is some overlap between the local products and the traditional homegrown talents. Nick Saban prodigies Hurts and Smith and the half-dozen-strong pack of Georgia Bulldogs all played their college ball within driving distance of Caesar’s Superdome and had their phones ring with general manager Howie Roseman‘s number on their draft days. The latter point also applies to Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Cam Jurgens, Landon Dickerson, Quinyon Mitchell, DeJean, Milton Williams, Kenneth Gainwell, and others. Elliott has made all of his 221 NFL field goals wearing some shade of Eagles green. And 2022 1st and 3rd-round picks pulled in Brown from the Tennessee Titans.

There will be times in the future when people once again doubt the Eagles, be it Nick Sirianni, Roseman, or the players on the field. At some point, it will be warranted, too. The Eagles themselves proved that no one wins forever by denying the Chiefs’ bid to become the first three-peat Super Bowl champions. Now, though, whenever someone wants to call out the Eagles core players or coaches, they will first have to refer to them as Super Bowl champions. In doing so, they’ll remind everyone of all of the special things they have achieved since September and especially over the last five weeks.

The staying power that will provide is real. But on nights like this, it’s best to just stare up at the lights and soak in what it feels like for a dream to come true.

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