The Philadelphia Eagles defence proved the “most dominant in Super Bowl history” in their victory over Kansas City Chiefs, Sky Sports NFL analyst Jeff Reinebold told Inside the Huddle.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles denied the Chiefs a historic three-peat as they stormed to a 40-22 victory over the back-to-back defending champions to win Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans on Sunday.
Kansas star quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions – one returned by Cooper DeJean for a touchdown – lost a fumble and was sacked six times as Kansas City’s title quest was crushed by a rampant Eagles defense.
“I think the first in particular was maybe the most dominant half of defense I’ve seen in Super Bowl,” Reinebold said on the final Sky Sports Inside the Huddle podcast of the season.
“I thought Vic Fangio’s game-plan was outstanding. These guys are competitive guys, and he’s been hearing all week how Steve Spagnuolo is the greatest defensive coordinator in NFL history. But hold on now, that old fox Fangio ain’t bad either.
“They are a physical football team and Philly loves them because Philly is a tough town. They are, in essence and more than anything else, a tough football team. Mahomes was getting hit. Every down he was getting hit.
“There were some garbage yards at the end of the fourth quarter that Kansas City got, so the score was not indicative of what happened.”
Mahomes’ pass is intercepted by Philadelphia Eagles’ Cooper DeJean, who takes it to the house for the touchdown
Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter concurred with Reinebold, as the Eagles came into the game with the No 1 defense in the competition and backed it up in some style.
“They completely had a boa constrictor feel around it. They just gave no air,” Schecter said.
“They are the team No 1 at not allowing explosive plays. When you see them rotate their coverage, they don’t fly down and give you a gap in between, they play it slow and are really smart, rushing four. It challenges what you’re seeing from a quarterback’s perspective.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes describes his Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles as the ‘worst feeling in the world’
“The Eagles were so good at open-field tackling. Their fundamentals stepped up big: the details, toughness and tenacity showed up.
“The Kansas offensive-line struggled so much. Mahomes had nowhere to step up into to throw those footballs.”
