A bunch of streaks came to a beautifully shocking end last night at Caesar’s Superdome. Super Bowl 59 ended the Kansas City Chiefs’ reign as football’s world champions, the recent streak of exceptionally competitive games (no overtime last night, though the last four minutes dragged out in real time almost to the extent of an extra period) and, at least for this game, the narrative that Patrick Mahomes was the best quarterback ever to be created. Not to mention, in all lilkelihood, the positive trajectory of record-breaking viewing audiences–not even Tubi will be likely to offset the likely decline that a game that at one point in the fourth quarter saw a 34-point lead could produce.
But if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan–and I know a few especially passionate ones–you couldn’t care less, because for the second time in seven years, and indeed in their 91-year history, they are the alpha birds, and their much-maligned quarterback finally delivered both a statistically great game and a win at the same time. THE ATHLETIC’s Zach Rosenblatt weighed in early this morning:
On Sunday night, Jalen Hurts carried the weight of the world. He held it in his right hand as he walked to a spot in the locker room where he could lean against the wall, slide to the floor, stretch out his legs and place the Lombardi Trophy between them. He let out a puff of smoke as he stared at his reflection in the trophy. Slowly, reporters, Eagles staffers and teammates noticed him. They took photos and videos on their phones, but Hurts was unbothered. He bobbed his head to “Happy Feelin’s,” an R&B song by Maze playing in the other room, all while his teammates were shotgunning beers, ripping off their shirts and dancing.
“Put some respect on his name,” a shirtless Saquon Barkley shouted, making sure a group of reporters could hear him over the deafening music and the excited screams of teammates. Sometimes, Hurts simply prefers the calm away from the storm; he’s earned that after spending so much time in the middle of it.
Hurts was tremendous in Super Bowl LVII two years ago, but it didn’t matter because they lost. As he piled up big numbers last year, the focus shifted to his relationship with Nick Siranni, as the Eagles unraveled and were blown out in the first round of the playoffs. Even this season, the compliments were backhanded. This is a historically talented Eagles team, will Hurts hold them back?
He didn’t, he doesn’t, and Sunday was the proof. Jordan Brand released a Hurts-fronted advertisement mocking those who have doubted him. It debuted after the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX rout, on the night Hurts accepted the Super Bowl MVP trophy for another historic performance, outplaying Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback in the world, cementing him as one of the best Super Bowl quarterbacks of all time. The ad ended with a narrator reading this line: “Hate that in your all-knowing, arm-chair wisdom, you were sure he’d come up short. Hate that you got it wrong.”
CBS SPORTS’ Cody Benjamin gave further perspective last night as to why Hurts’ performance was so significant:
This year’s Super Bowl MVP is already etched into the NFL record books thanks to his Sunday night win — a 40-22 rout — during which he became the only player other than seven-time champion Tom Brady with at least three total scores and a 70% passing completion rate in multiple Super Bowls. Accordingly, it’s time we stop playing around when discussing Hurts among the game’s pantheon of most respected quarterbacks. This man is elite.
Patrick Mahomes? Sure, he can remain No. 1, despite his mostly atrocious Super Bowl showing on Sunday behind an overwhelmed front. Three rings will earn you some grace. Joe Burrow? Yeah, he probably throws the NFL’s prettiest ball at a prolific rate, and he’s at least reached the biggest stage once. Who else is ahead of the 26-year-old Hurts right now? Lamar Jackson, who does everything Hurts does with a little more electricity in the regular season, but who’s mustered a playoff record of 3-5 over seven seasons? Josh Allen, who does it all in supersized fashion, but who’s failed to advance past the AFC Championship in each of his seven seasons in the NFL.
Sorry. Allen and Jackson and [insert your other favorite quarterback prototype] are immense talents. In fact, they might even be superior talents to Hurts. But neither of them has won, let alone reached, a Super Bowl. Hurts has made it to two and given winning performances in both. And he’s only been the Eagles’ starter for four (!) seasons. Read that again: four. Philly is 43-13 in Hurts’ starts since 2022, including playoffs.
And while his surgical execution of an offense that did little wrong was exceptional, it’s arguable that the job his defense did to undue the other starting quarterback last night was even more so, as THE NEW YORK POST’ Paul Schwartz, the most successful ex-SUNY student newspaper sports editor I know, wrote:
Patrick Mahomes and back-to-back Super Bowl champions are not supposed to be treated with such disrespect. From the very start, the big, bad Birds swarmed and swooped and swallowed up everything the Chiefs had to offer, which, as it turned out, was not very much at all. This was a blatant mismatch up front, with the Eagles playing bully-ball and thrashing and trashing a Chiefs offensive line that has been a weak link amid Kansas City’s 15-2 regular season.
It was 24-0 at halftime, and the unit orchestrated by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was so forceful that it sucked all the life out of any semblance of a three-peat possibility for the Chiefs. Edge rusher Josh Sweat, an impending free agent, made himself some money with a huge performance with 2.5 sacks. Milt Williams had two. The Eagles sacked Mahomes six times and so badly humiliated the Chiefs offense that it was almost hard to remember that they won the past two Super Bowls. In the first half, the Eagles nearly pitched a perfect game. They limited the Chiefs to one first down and 23 total yards. That is not a misprint. Twenty-three total yards!
So if you happen to know some passionate Chiefs fans–and yes, I do know a couple of those as well–try and be a tad understanding today. They’re hurting, and not so good.
Courage…