NEW ORLEANS – Yo Philly: Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni are world champions.
A ferocious Philadelphia Eagles defense tormented and frustrated Patrick Mahomes while Hurts made all the plays the offense needed.
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So much for the Kansas City Chiefs’ quest for a Super Bowl three-peat.
It wasn’t even close.
Cooper DeJean got a pick-6 on his 22nd birthday, Josh Sweat pressured Mahomes all night and the Eagles routed the Chiefs 40-22 on Sunday to secure the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship.
Hurts threw for two touchdowns and ran for a score on a tush push to earn Super Bowl MVP honors, and Vic Fangio's defense was so dominant that the Eagles didn't need much from Saquon Barkley.
The game-changing running back finished with 57 yards, breaking Terrell Davis’ record for yards rushing in a season, playoffs included. Hurts threw for 221 yards.
“This is the ultimate team game. You can’t be great without the greatness of others. Great performance by everybody — offense, defense, special teams,” Sirianni said. “We didn’t really ever care what anyone thought about how we won, or their opinions. All we want to do is win.”
Hurts has been doubted since he started for Alabama in a national championship game and was benched for Tua Tagovailoa at halftime. Finishing second to Mahomes in MVP voting two years ago didn't quite silence all the detractors. Now, he's hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy.
Sirianni, who mocked fans chanting “Fire Nick!” during a victory over Cleveland in October and was called a “clown” on national television, also quieted critics by adding a championship ring to a coaching resume that includes the fifth-best winning percentage in league history.
“Things come right on time. The last time around, it wasn’t our time, it wasn’t my time and sometimes you have to accept that you have to wait your turn," said Hurts, who nearly led the Eagles to victory against the Chiefs two years ago in Arizona.
With Donald Trump becoming the first president in office to attend a Super Bowl, the Eagles outplayed Kansas City in every facet, delighting a raucous pro-Philly crowd that celebrated each score with a familiar rendition of “Fly! Eagles! Fly!”
Even Taylor Swift’s presence couldn’t help the Chiefs. They lost for the first time in 10 games this season with the pop superstar in a suite watching boyfriend Travis Kelce, who didn’t catch a pass until late in the third quarter.
Not in Kansas City’s worst nightmares could its fans have imagined such a lackluster performance. The Chiefs had won three of the previous five Super Bowls, losing 31-9 to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers four years ago.
Mahomes was 8-0 against Fangio’s defenses before the longtime coordinator and former Broncos head coach outcoached Andy Reid, capping his first season with his hometown team. Reid fell to 3-3 in Super Bowls, including a loss with the Eagles.
The Eagles sacked Mahomes six times, the most of his career, including 2 1/2 by Sweat and two by Milton Williams. And they did it without Fangio calling a single blitz.
“Defense wins championships,” Hurts said. “We saw how they played today. We saw the difference they made in the game. They gave us opportunities, gave us short fields. And we’re able to do what we do.”
Barkley, the 2024 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, only had 31 yards rushing in the first half when Philly built a 24-0 lead.
The Chiefs were aiming to become the third team in NFL history to win three straight championships and the first to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. Two years ago, Mahomes led a comeback and Harrison Butker kicked the game-winning field goal in the final minute for a 38-35 victory over the Eagles. Mahomes rallied Kansas City to an overtime victory over San Francisco last year.
“That’s a great football team and we had to come out and play our best, and we did,” Sirianni said.
This time, a revamped Philly defense featuring eight new starters from the 2022 team made sure Mahomes had no chance to pull off his magic.
Sirianni was showered with Gatorade with nearly three minutes left in the game while backup QB Kenny Pickett took snaps in mop-up duty.
“Today was a rough day all around. Nothing went right. I didn’t coach well. Proud of our guys for fighting. We will learn from this,” Reid said. “Too many turnovers, too many penalties. Against a good football team, can’t do that.”
Barkley helped push Hurts into the end zone from the 1 to give Philadelphia a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Up 10-0 after Jake Elliott’s 48-yard field goal, Sweat and Jalyx Hunt sacked Mahomes on consecutive plays. Mahomes then rolled out and made an errant throw that was picked by DeJean, who returned it 38 yards for a 17-0 lead.
“When you have a great line up front ... makes it easier on the back end, and when they take the run away, it allows us to get the pass rush going,” DeJean said.
It was Mahomes’ first pick-6 in 21 career playoff games and ended a streak of 297 straight passes without an interception.
“We didn’t start how we wanted to. The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that,” Mahomes said.
All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun picked Mahomes again late in the second quarter, and Hurts connected with A.J. Brown on a 12-yard TD pass for a 24-0 lead.
Hurts threw a perfect 46-yard TD pass to DeVonta Smith to make it 34-0 late in the third.
Mahomes fired a 24-yard TD pass to Xavier Worthy to avoid the shutout, but the 2-point conversion failed. He threw two late, mostly meaningless TD passes, one to DeAndre Hopkins and another to Worthy.
After two weeks of discussions about questionable calls that led to public perception that officials favor the Chiefs — a theory NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called “ridiculous” — the first penalty of the game only fueled critics.
A 32-yard pass from Hurts to Brown to the Chiefs 18 on fourth-and-2 was negated by a penalty for offensive pass interference. Brady, now a Fox analyst, and officiating analyst Mike Pereira both disagreed with the call, although Brown shoved Trent McDuffie’s facemask.
On the next possession, the Eagles benefited from an unnecessary roughness penalty on McDuffie against Dallas Goedert following an incomplete pass on third-and-5.
Hurts then connected with Jahan Dotson on a 27-yard pass to the 1 and scored on the next play.
Hurts’ streak of 217 passes without a pick ended in the first half when he was intercepted deep in Kansas City territory, but the Chiefs didn’t capitalize.
The Green Bay Packers are the only NFL team to win three championships in a row, doing it from 1929-31 and 1965-67.
The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-02, led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neill, are the last team in the major American professional leagues to win three straight titles.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl