Even if you thought the Philadelphia Eagles could beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, you surely didn’t expect the team’s 40-22 defeat on Sunday night, which ended their chances of winning a record-breaking third consecutive Super Bowl.
Kansas City was totally dominated from the first whistle. The Chiefs lacked answers to the Eagles’ questions. In many situations, it appeared that they had no idea what types of questions would be on the test.
Here are five things we learned as Kansas City fell short.
1. Champions are defined by pivotal moments
I made the same case following the Chiefs’ 32-29 win against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game.
It is still true. Except this time, we discovered a moment that was too huge for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his squad.
Halfway through the second quarter, the game remained in reach. The Chiefs, trailing 10-0, began a drive at the 30-yard line. They simply needed to get on board. However, the offensive line surrendered two consecutive sacks before Mahomes threw an ill-advised pick-6 to the Eagles’ star rookie defensive back, Cooper DeJean.
That was only one of several such occasions in the game.
Two drives later, Mahomes threw another interception on the first play of a drive deep in his territory. Early in the second half, the Chiefs turned the ball over on downs — and immediately gave up a back-breaking deep touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.
Championships are defined by how a team responds in critical moments. In this game, the Chiefs repeatedly came up short.
2. It’s hard to win the Super Bowl without a left tackle
It’s not Chiefs offensive lineman Joe Thuney’s fault that he struggled in this game. He should never have been pressed into service as the starting left tackle in the Super Bowl.
Nor do I blame head coach Andy Reid for choosing to go with Thuney in this game — but I do blame Reid and the front office for putting the team into the position where he had to do it. For the second time in five seasons, a failure on the offensive line cost the Chiefs a shot at winning the championship.
There is no doubt: Joe Thuney is a warrior. Unfortunately, Kansas City didn’t have any choice but to roll with him.
But that’s only because the Chiefs whiffed on the second-round selection of left tackle Kingsley Suamataia — and what’s worse, they misjudged whether would be ready to begin the season as the starting at left tackle.
And just to make it worse: right tackle Jawaan Taylor has proved to be one of the worst signings in Veach’s career.
3. Parick Mahomes is human
Mahomes picked an inopportune time to have the worst game of his career.
While the offensive line did him no favors, he was off right from the beginning. He missed throws on the run that he normally makes. Then he started pressing, trying to do too much. He lost eye discipline, staring down his receivers. He got happy feet in the pocket, scrambling into sacks.
Yes… he was running for his life for most of the game. But that doesn’t excuse his decision-making. All evening, he looked out of sorts and uncomfortable.
4. The defense did its job
It’s rare for an opponent team to score 40 points, and you can’t blame the defense. But it wasn’t.
I believed defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo devised an effective game plan to limit the Eagles’ all-world running back Saquan Barkley to only 57 yards rushing on 25 attempts. Given how much time it spent on the field (particularly in the first half), the defense performed admirably. It surely played its heart out.
Kansas City will need to work on several things in the summer, such as increasing the pass rush and getting speedier in the secondary. However, on a night when nothing went the Chiefs’ way, the defense did a lot of things correctly.
5. The revenge tour starts now
Sunday night’s game was hard to swallow. But for the Chiefs, it was still an excellent season — even though it was a wild ride on every step of the way.
In many ways, this defeat could mark the end of a chapter in the Chiefs’ history. In the coming weeks, they will have a lot of roster decisions to make as they prepare for free agency and the draft.
There is a good chance the 2025 team will look much different than it does now, but as long as they have Reid and Mahomes, they will be in the mix.
There is a reason no team has three-peated during the Super Bowl era: the league is set up to prevent it. Still, the Chiefs came closer to a three-peat than any other team has ever done—and even after this terrible loss, they are still the AFC’s team to beat.
