NEW ORLEANS (AFP) — Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles shattered Kansas City’s dream of an unprecedented Super Bowl “three-peat” with a brutally efficient dismantling of the Chiefs in a 40-22 victory at the Superdome on Sunday.
It was sweet revenge for Nick Sirianni’s team who had suffered an agonizing Super Bowl defeat to the Chiefs two years ago in Arizona and criticism after a 2-2 start to the season.
While much of the focus before the game had been on Philadelphia’s running game, Hurts showed the other side of his game, throwing for two touchdowns and 221 yards and running in another score in a brilliant performance.
“He had an unbelievable game today when we needed him to,” said Sirianni, suggesting that they may have taken advantage of the Chiefs preoccupation with the running game.
“When you set out to stop one thing, another thing opens and Jalen was able to take advantage of that. Him and this team are world champions forever,” he said.
The Chiefs were able to largely limit the impact of the Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley but they managed precious little else on either side of the ball.
For all the talk of the Chiefs rising to become the greatest dynasty in the National Football League (NFL), this was, instead, the kind of loss that can tarnish a legacy.
“Too many turnovers, too many penalties, against a good football team you just can’t do that,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
Mahomes’ status as one of the great quarterbacks is already secured but he had a night to forget, throwing two interceptions, giving up a turnover on a fumble and was sacked six times.
Right from the outset, the Eagles were dominant and they opened their account on their second drive when Hurts found Jahan Dotson wide right with a perfectly floated 28-yard pass.
Dotson was ruled to have gone down just short of the end-zone but predictably on the next play, the Eagles pushed Hurts over the line for the score.
The Eagles defense was swarming all over the Chiefs offensive line and Mahomes struggled to get any kind of momentum.
At the start of the second quarter, a Hurts pass intended for AJ Brown was superbly intercepted by safety Bryan Cook but again the Chiefs were forced to punt.
A 48-yard Jake Elliott field goal made it 10-0 but much worse was to come for Kansas City.