Dominant D

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Dominant D

Posted: February 10th, 2025 | Author: Tommy Lawlor

Super Bowl LII was an amazing experience. The Eagles won their first ever Lombardi Trophy and did so in dramatic fashion. The offense had a phenomenal night and led the team to a 41-33 win.

But that game was also frustrating. The defense gave up 613 yards in that game. If  you are an Eagles fan, a love of good defense is in your DNA. From Bednarik to Bergey to Buddy, you want to see the guys in green shut people down. As magical as that night was, it was strange to see the high-flying offense be the key.

That certainly wasn’t the case against the Chiefs. Vic Fangio’s defense was #1 in the regular season and they played up to that ranking in the biggest game of the year. The Eagles led 34-0 and 40-6 before giving up a couple of late TDs. Patrick Mahomes is one of the best QBs in NFL history. He looked like an average Joe against the Eagles. At halftime he was 6-14-33. That’s the worst first half of a SB since Rex Grossman back in 2006. The Eagles defense was so good they got us to compare Mahomes to Sexy Rexy. That’s mind boggling.

Mahomes masked some issues with his legs and overall ability this year. The Eagles pass rush dominated the Chiefs OL and showed the world that these teams were not close. The Eagles were on a whole different level.

The Eagles finished with 6 sacks and 11 QB hits. Brandon Graham said after the game that they had 15 pressures. Mahomes had never been sacked 6 times in his career. The Eagles did all of this with almost no blitzing.

Josh Sweat just played the game of his life. He had 2.5 sacks and his pressure created an INT. Milton Williams had 2 sacks and recovered a fumble on one of them. The Eagles DL just kept coming. If Mahomes wasn’t as mobile, he would have been sacked 10 times. He was under constant pressure.

That pressure got to him and Mahomes was jittery. He never looked comfortable in the pocket. He threw 2 INTs, including a pick-six to Cooper DeJean. What a time for the rookie to come up with his first INT. And on his birthday, no less.

The defense was special. Fangio had his guys locked in and they delivered in a big way.

The Eagles offense showed up in a big way as well. The Chiefs sold out to shut down Saquon Barkley. They limited him to 25-57. Steve Spagnuolo had his guys ready to stop the run.

But KC had no pass rush. The Eagles OL gave Jalen Hurts time to throw and he delivered. Hurts finished 17-22-221 with a couple of TDs. Hurts set a SB record for rushing yards by a QB, going 11-72-1 on the ground. This was the biggest moment of his life and Hurts came through in a big way. He was named Super Bowl MVP for his performance.

If you had to describe this win in three words it would be…tough, detailed, together. Okay, I’m just pandering to Nick Sirianni with that. He preached that message to his team this year and it resonated with them. This team was confident leading into the game. Not cocky, just confident. They believed in themselves and each other.

The moment wasn’t too big for them. There was no fear of facing Mahomes. The Eagles played a great game and showed undoubtedly that they were the best team in the NFL this year.

This is the best Eagles team I’ve ever seen. They had playmakers all over the lineup. The 2017 team didn’t have anyone like AJ. The 2022 team didn’t have anyone like Saquon. This team had it all and that showed on Sunday night.

Howie Roseman did a brilliant job of building the best roster in the NFL.

Nick Sirianni and his staff did a great job of having the team ready to play.

The players delivered.

What a special ending to a special season.

*****

This cracked me up.

*****

There was a time when just making it to the Super Bowl was great. The Eagles have now been three times in the last eight seasons. They have two wins. And this roster has a lot of young talent. The future could be a lot of fun.

*****

This is brilliant.

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