The Philadelphia Eagles are the kings of denying a three-peat.
On Sunday, they dominated the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, ending the Chiefs’ bid to go three in a row.
Philadelphia also prevented the New England Patriots from a three-peat as the Eagles defeated them in Super Bowl LII.
The Eagles’ offensive line dominance, the brilliance of their quarterback, and their ferocious defense caused chaos for Kansas City all night.
Here’s how Philadelphia took its second Super Bowl in eight years:
Super Bowl MVP
In two Super Bowl performances, Jalen Hurts has been electric.
Undoubtedly, he would have two Super Bowl MVPs if the Eagles won the first battle against the Chiefs.
Hurts has totaled:
- 44-60 passing (73 percent)
- 525 passing yards
- 142 rushing yards
- 7 total touchdowns (4 rush)
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888775185945292953
On this rainbow throw, Hurts takes a three-step drop back, eyes his first read (DeVonta Smith on a go-route), and lets it rip.
It appears to be a cover one as Kansas City shades the deep safety towards AJ Brown’s (WR1) side of the field, and Smith gets a one-on-one opportunity.
It’s perfectly executed. Once Hurts steps into the throw, it displays the timing and rhythm of the read and route.
This was probably Hurts’ most underrated throw of the night:
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888748318823489815
Back shoulder throws are all about timing and anticipation. On another three-step dropback, Hurts releases the ball before Brown turns back, and he delivers a perfect pass to move the sticks.
Saquon Barkley
Steve Spagnuolo took away the Eagles’ strength, rushing champion Saquon Barkley, limiting him to 57 yards on 25 carries. Only two touches went for a first down.
While Barkley was a non-factor in the rushing attack, he still made winning plays.
In our Super Bowl preview, one of the matchups to watch was Barkley versus Spagnuolo’s blitz packages, and surely enough, Barkley won that matchup.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888744265863287153
Barkley comes across and lowers his shoulder to bump the blitzer off. He helps provide Hurts a clean pocket to work with, and Hurts locates Jahan Dotson on a go-route for a big play.
As Spagnuolo took Barkley’s rushing attack out, it opened up everything else, and Barkley still made a few plays.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888770352836133011
Philadelphia’s pass protection is so incredible that the guards and center are standing still for a few seconds while pass-blocking.
As Hurts goes through his reads, it becomes a scramble drill. Barkley is covered on the swing route, gets behind the defense to uncover, and hauls in a juggling catch.
Four-man pass rush
It’s one thing to know the strategy of how to beat Patrick Mahomes, and it’s another thing to have the personnel to beat Mahomes.
Philadelphia’s defense had both.
This was the first game this season that Mahomes had three or more turnovers.
Philadelphia mainly used a cover-four defense, in which four defenders defend a quarter of the deep field, and three defenders play underneath.
Cover four worked.
On 42 dropbacks, they pressured Mahomes 16 times, got home six times, and never sent a blitz.
Here’s one example of their cover four defense:
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888751095163294118
The outside corners and the safeties drop into their fourth of the field to create quarters defense.
Rookie nickel cornerback Cooper Dejean is one of the three underneath defenders, reads Mahomes’ eyes, and jumps the throwing window for a pick-six.
Philadelphia forced seven interceptions in the postseason, all on seven plays. They sent a four-man pass rush, allowing more defenders to drop into coverage.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888756211564052790
Zack Baun is the middle underneath defender, has his eyes on Mahomes, and makes the diving interception.
This play was likely another cover-four call, with three defenders underneath. It appears to be cover three, with Quinyon Mitchell (bottom of the play) matching up with Xavier Worthy as the fourth underneath defender.
There were so many outstanding performances on the Eagles’ defensive line.
Let’s highlight Josh Sweat, who recorded a game-high 2.5 sacks.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888750436141703652
Sweat is lined up in a wide-nine (outside the tight end). His get-off is incredible, and it looks like Travis Kelce is late in his stance.
Essentially, Sweat goes unblocked and gets to Mahomes with a few of his friends there too.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1888768036003308031
He’s lined up at the top of the screen and takes on the chip block, which helps him disengage with the right tackle, and he finds an angle to Mahomes. Credit the secondary for holding up on the backend and getting a coverage sack.
Final thoughts
It took Hurts just four seasons as a full-time starter to win the ultimate prize. The Eagles rebuilt their defense two seasons ago, and they have had nine new starters since then. Barkley had a Kawhi Leonard 2019-esque run, changing teams and immediately winning the championship as the team’s best player.
Barkley had 57 yards, well under his playoff run average of 147. But it didn’t matter. Similarly, Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points in the closeout game while averaging 30 points in the 2019 finals. Sometimes, it’s all the work that leads up to the final game that keeps the defense honest.
Philadelphia had a defense built to not only beat Mahomes but also to shut him down. It wasn’t just a blowout, it was complete and utter domination at the highest level. Philadelphia not only showed they were the better team. They showed they were the more disciplined team, the more physical team, and the more prepared team.
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