NEW ORLEANS – The Kansas City Chiefs’ quest at an historic three-peat was cooked like a well-done Philly cheese streak.
Kansas City was completely outclassed by the Philadelphia Eagles in a 40-22 Super Bowl 59 rout. The final score wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the game was.
“Credit to the Eagles. They played better than us from start to finish. We didn’t start how we wanted to. Obviously, the turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “I didn’t play to my standard, and I have to be better the next time.”
The Eagles flew out to a 24-0 first half advantage behind a dominant defensive effort and timely plays from Jalen Hurts and the offense. The Chiefs was shutout and held to just one first down in the first half.
Kansas City’s offense was outgained 179-23 at halftime.
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The dam broke in the second half when Hurts threw a 46-yard touchdown to wide receiver DeVonta Smith to give Philadelphia a resounding 34-0 lead with under three minutes remaining in the third period.
To make matter worse, Mahomes was striped sacked in Kansas City territory midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles connected on a field goal after the takeaway to pad their massive lead to 40-6.
Super Bowl 59 was decided early enough that Eagles coach Nick Sirianni received a Gatorade shower with almost three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“(Sunday) was a rough day. We didn’t really play well in any of the phases (and) didn’t coach good enough,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We’ll learn from this. Most games here when you don’t do very well, you learn from it as a coach, learn from it as a player and you move on.”
Reid boiled the performance down to a rough day and Mahomes put the onus on himself after three giveaways.
“I threw two interceptions. I threw a pick-six and I threw a pick that they returned to the (14-yard line),’ Mahomes said. ‘They scored immediately after. When you give a team 14 points, especially a really good football team, a Super Bowl football team, not a lot of good things happen. That’s why I take ownership in this loss, probably more than any loss in my entire career because I put us in a bad spot.”
However, Kansas City’s offensive line didn’t play well, and it had a domino effect on the Chiefs quarterback.
Mahomes was under siege the entire night. He was sacked a career-high six times and intercepted twice, including a pick-six. Philadelphia generated a pressure rate of 38% and didn’t blitz once, per Next Gen stats. The Eagles front four forced 16 total pressures.
“No. 1 defense in the league. They definitely came out and showed that tonight,” Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor said to USA TODAY Sports. “They were getting around the ball. Trying to create as much pressure on the quarterback as possible. They had a great night tonight.”
The Kansas City’s offensive line was manhandled in a performance that was reminiscent of the team’s Super Bowl 55 loss where Mahomes was sacked three times and under duress for most of the contest. Mahomes had a 52.3 passer rating in Super Bowl 55.
“I think it’s a humbling experience,” Taylor added. “Let’s us know to keep working and not get complacent and not get comfortable.”
Sunday’s loss gives Mahomes a 3-2 career Super Bowl record. He talked for over 10 minutes postgame and took the blame for the defeat, as franchise quarterbacks and leaders typically do, but it was terrible performance by the entire Chiefs team – particularly the O-line.
“Both sucked,” Mahomes said about his two Super Bowl losses. “Anytime you lose a Super Bowl, it’s the worse feeling in the world. They stick with you the rest of your career. These will be the two losses that will motivate me to be even better for the rest of my career. You only get so few of these. You have to capitalize on these. They hurt probably more than the wins feel good.”