Pro Football Rumors
And, with that, the 2024 NFL season has come to an end. The clock has hit four zeroes, and the Philadelphia Eagles are the Super Bowl LIX champions beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22.
After earning their first ever championship since before the 1970 AFL-NFL merger back in 2017, the Eagles have now won two Super Bowls in nine years, not to mention an additional appearance in the game two years ago. That last appearance, a Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs, 38-35, was avenged tonight thanks to a dominant performance from Philadelphia’s defense.
Following that previous Super Bowl loss, the Eagles were a first-round exit last year. This led to a busy offseason that saw them extend the contracts of key offensive players like wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, left tackle Jordan Mailata, and left guard Landon Dickerson. Perhaps even more important was the free agent signing of division-rival running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley led the league in rushing, accomplishing the first 2,000-yard rushing season since 2020. With the production he had in the offseason, including tonight’s win, Barkley broke the record for most single-season rushing yards including the postseason.
The team’s front office did big work on the defensive side of the ball, as well. They reworked defensive end Josh Sweat‘s contract to keep him around for the year, added free agent pass rusher Bryce Huff across from him, and signed huge contributors in linebacker Zack Baun and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Perhaps most crucial to the defense were the first- and second-round draft additions of cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, the former of which finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and the latter of which returned a Patrick Mahomes interception 38 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter of tonight’s game.
The Eagles’ dominance on defense was felt not only in the secondary but all over the field. In addition to interceptions by DeJean and Baun, Philadelphia racked up six sacks, 11 quarterback hits, and six tackles for loss without blitzing a single snap, per James Palmer of Bleacher Report. The offense spread out the ball well but, ultimately, didn’t do much, as they weren’t really asked to. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and his unit were the unofficial MVPs of the game; quarterback Jalen Hurts was the official Super Bowl LIX Most Valuable Player.
The Eagles season had an up and down start. They opened up the year with a win over the Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before dropping two of their next three games. Following an early Week 4 bye, Philadelphia established what their identity would be, rattling off 10 straight wins. An injury to quarterback Hurts resulted in their only loss after September as backups Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee took over for the remainder of the season. A loss of quarterback wasn’t too detrimental, though, as the NFL’s No. 2 rushing offense was able to continue carrying the NFL’s 29th-best passing offense.
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