It seemed fitting that after decades of heartbreak, the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2017 season had to go through Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots – the winningest team of the 2010s – to win their first Super Bowl.
And it seemed fitting seven years later that the Eagles, who suffered a maddening Super Bowl loss 24 months earlier that precipitated a shorter but brutal period of misery, were again tasked with overtaking the Kansas City Chiefs, this decade’s team to beat behind Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.
In both cases, the Eagles had the deeper roster with considerable strength along the lines of scrimmage. But, the perception was that the Eagles were at a disadvantage in the most important spots: quarterback and coaching.
Celebrate Eagles’championship with our new book
The comparisons end there. The underdog Eagles seven years ago went blow for blow with Brady, an unshakeable fearlessness required to overcome the GOAT’s Super Bowl-record 505 passing yards. The 2024 Eagles outclassed Mahomes, Brady’s challenger for the GOAT title on Sunday night. Exuding a dominance reserved for only the best teams of all-time, the Eagles held Mahomes’ Chiefs to 23 first-half yards.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
At age 29, Mahomes was playing in his fifth Super Bowl and aiming to become the first quarterback to lead his team to three straight Super Bowl victories. His resume is remarkably similar to Brady’s – strong enough for many to place him in the Greatest Of All Time conversation. Through eight NFL seasons, Mahomes has compiled an 89-23 regular-season record and is 3-2 in Super Bowls. Brady’s teams in his first eight seasons were 86-24 and 3-1 in the Super Bowl.
RELIVE THE GAME: 5 best moments from Eagles’ blowout Super Bowl 59 victory over Chiefs
After his fifth Super Bowl appearance, Brady went six years without another Super Bowl win. He wasn’t firmly in the GOAT debate until he won two of three Super Bowls from 2016-18 in his age 39-41 seasons, including the notorious 28-3 comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. In 2021, Brady at 44 threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns in leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory to cement his GOAT status.
Mahomes’ yearly totals are trending the opposite direction as the Chiefs have swapped explosive downfield attack for a meticulous system of underneath passes, run-pass options and screens. Their Super Bowl dismantling at the hands of the Eagles is sure to prompt questions about Kansas City’s future team construction.
All is to say, Mahomes faces a long road in overtaking Brady as football’s greatest winner. But however it shakes out, Eagles fans can always hold onto this:
The Eagles are the only franchise and will be the only franchise to have defeated Brady and Mahomes in the sport’s biggest game.
Here are four additional stats that stand out from Super Bowl 59:
38.1%: Eagles pressured Mahomes with four pass rushers
Despite not sending a single blitz, the Eagles pressured Mahomes on 38.1% of his drop backs, his fifth-highest pressure rate faced in a single game of his career, according to Next Gen Stats.
While under pressure, Mahomes completed 3 of 9 passes for 43 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and took six sacks.
It was the Eagles’ fourth-highest pressure rate of the season. In the three games rated higher, the Eagles blitzed on 22.2%, 36.7% and 3.0% of the opposing team’s drop backs.
“He’s so good against pressure that I was hoping we could play the game without having to pressure much, and that happened,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told reporters after the game.
Mahomes’ -.46 expected points added per drop back was his second-lowest in his eight-year career spanning 133 starts, according to NFL Pro.
Buy our Eagles commemorative pages
97th percentile: Jalen Hurts’ offensive performance
Jalen Hurts has started 75 regular-season and postseason games for the Eagles. His performance in Super Bowl 59 ranked second in expected points added per drop back, according to NFL Pro. His raw pass EPA total of 18.2 ranked third in his career.
In the last three weeks, Hurts has had two of his best seven games of his career by the metric.
According to TruMedia data cited by The Score, Hurts’ EPA per drop back was the highest in a Super Bowl since 2000. The performances by Brady and Nick Foles in the 2017 Super Bowl are second and third, respectively, followed by Mahomes against the Eagles in 2022.
SUPER BOWL MVP: How Jalen Hurts showed ‘clutch gene,’ named MVP of Super Bowl 59
After an early interception, Hurts was an efficient passer, completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. He was effective as a scrambler, too, completing 4 of 6 passes on the move for 40 yards while rushing five times for a season-high 59 yards and three first downs, per Next Gen Stats.
For the game, he led the Eagles with 72 rushing yards on 11 attempts and scored a “Brotherly Shove” touchdown.
2.5 sacks: Josh Sweat dominates Chiefs offensive line
Before Super Bowl Sunday, Eagles pass rusher Josh Sweat had not registered a sack since Dec. 15 when he took down Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson in a 27-13 Eagles win.
Against the Chiefs, Sweat had a career-high 2.5 sacks and was disruptive throughout the game. On 34 pass-rush snaps, he had six pressures against five different Chiefs blockers, according to Next Gen Stats.
Sweat had six two-sack games in his seven-year career entering Sunday. His 48 career sacks in the regular season and postseason combined rank tied for 10th in Eagles history, per Pro Football Reference.
Sweat returned to the Eagles on a restructured one-year contract after a disappointing second half in the 2023 season. Super Bowl 59 could have been his last game with the Eagles. After an 8-sack season, he stands to be one of the most sought-after edge rushers in free agency.
2.3 yards per carry: Saquon Barkley didn’t need to be special to finish special season
Who would have thought the Eagles could build a 40-6 lead in the Super Bowl as Saquon Barkley averaged a meager 2.3 yards per carry?
The Eagles didn’t need Barkley to be great against the Chiefs – his presence alone was enough to prompt advantageous looks for receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles put their Super Bowl-week creed on display.
“You can’t be great without the greatness of others.”
Barkley’s 57 rushing yards on 25 carries were still enough to vault him over Terrell Davis for the most rushing yards in a season, regular season and postseason combined.
Davis had 2,476 yards for the Broncos in 1998. Barkley finished with 2,504 yards.
“It was a hell of a year,” Barkley said. “All of the numbers and stats or records are cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy.”
Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at [email protected].
