After a gruesome, yet extremely eventful 2 weeks between Conference championship weekend and Super Bowl LIX, and with, I don’t know, the biggest trade in NBA history, frankly sports history, taking place last week with the Dallas Mavericks trading their generational talent and arguably best ball player in their franchise’s history, Luka Dončić to the super-star magnet franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers.
They shipped defensive anchor Anthony Davis to Dallas, Max Christie, and a first-round pick.
With several other big trade deadline moves occurring in the NBA, the NFL has been relatively quiet, with the media taking the forefront this past week in New Orleans, home of this year’s Super Bowl.
This usual calm before the storm is erie, as we sit in anticipation for the biggest sports event in the country between the dynamic dynasty of the Kansas City Chiefs who are attempting to reach places never touched by any others in NFL history, and the Philadelphia Eagles who, with their roster that has no holes, pose a serious challenge to the Chiefs and their date with history.
For a quick refresher, Kansas City came into Sunday riding high on their righteous mission to pull off the three-peat, something no team’s done before, after beating the NFL MVP, Josh Allen, and the Buffalo Bills in KC. Led by the legendary Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, this felt like manifest destiny for the Chiefs, as they felt nothing could stop them from cementing themselves in NFL history.
After bringing the rookie phenom Jayden Daniels and his cinderella-story team, the Washington Commanders, back down to Earth after an unprecedented and unforeseen successful first year, Philly went into Super Bowl LIX ready to right the wrongs of their recent past, with the rematch of Super Bowl LVII being set in stone to be played at the Caesars Superdome in the Big Easy.
With running back Saquan Barkley having one of the best RB seasons ever, and Philly’s trench play being the best in the league, pressure mounted on the Eagles to de-throne the defending champs and their historic quest on Sunday in Louisiana.
The game started tame with both teams exchanging punts on both of their first offensive drives. Philly then put together an explosive 7-play drive, which was highlighted with a 27-yard pass caught at the 1-yard line by Eagles’ WR Jahan Dotson.
This set Philadelphia up for their iconic “Tush-Push” which gave them the early lead over K.C 7-0. Kansas City was never really able to respond to that scoring drive in the first half, as the Chief’s offensive line was being tormented by the front 4 of the Eagles.
The dam broke when the consensus best quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes threw a pick-six to rookie cornerback, Cooper DeJean which put Philly up 17-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Kansas City wasn’t able to make it past the halfway mark of the field, even throwing another INT before the first half was over. Philly again came out swinging in the second half, scoring 10 points and holding the Chiefs to a measly 6 in the 3rd quarter, going into the final stretch of the game up 34-6.
The Eagles would deliver the final blows in the 4th, adding 2 more field goals to give them 40, as Kansas City scored two garbage time touchdowns to make the final score 40-22, a little more palatable than the actual course of the game reflects.
As Philly knelt the clock out, celebration erupted on the Eagles’ sideline as they drowned their head coach Nick Sirianni in lemon-lime Gatorade. And as the clock hit 0, it was official; The Philadelphia Eagles are the Super Bowl LIX champions.
To cap off an extremely successful season from top to bottom in the organization, Philly was back atop the mountain after a 7-year hiatus. With help from the complete masterpiece of a defensive game put together by Philly’s defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts both silenced critics and doubters alike with the cure-all in any sport: winning.
As a change of scenery goes, it doesn’t get any different for running back Saquan Barkley. Just last year he was on a hopeless New York Giants team who had no direction and was wasting his prime years. Fast forward a year later he holds the single-season rushing record (regular season & playoffs included), won Offensive Player of the Year and now is a Super Bowl Champion.
After this clinic of a season from Philly, this puts all other NFC teams on notice, letting them know that the Eagles are here to stay. They all must now ask themselves: “What do we do about Philly?”.
