Pats Pulpit
Philadelphia won the Super Bowl in convincing fashion.
The final game of the 2024 NFL season effectively over by the early fourth quarter. The Philadelphia Eagles overwhelmed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX from the get-go, dethroning the two-time defending champion with a final score of 40-22 — a score not indicative of the lopsided nature of the game.
The Eagles were simply the better team on Super Bowl Sunday. How they became that is something teams will have to take a close look at, including a New England Patriots organization finding itself on the opposite end of the NFL spectrum.
After winning only eight total games the last two seasons combined, the Patriots are in the process of rebuilding their team both on and off the field. Using the Philadelphia model as a blueprint would not be the worst idea, especially for a team that already has some key pieces — including at the quarterback position — in place.
The biggest story of Super Bowl LIX was the Eagles thoroughly dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides, but especially on defense. The Chiefs offensive line coming into the game with a reshuffled left side, including moving ex-Patriot Joe Thuney to left tackle, did help Philadelphia, but make no mistake: the NFC champions would have been a tough challenge for a fully healthy Kansas City O-line as well.
The Eagles, after all, entered the game with as talented a defensive line rotation as any in the game. Led by standout defensive tackles Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter and Milton Williams, the group put quarterback Patrick Mahomes under constant duress, forcing him into uncharacteristic mistakes of a game-deciding magnitude.
All three of Mahomes’ turnovers were either the direct or indirect result of pressure getting to him all day long — something Philadelphia was able to do because of the sheer quality of players it has available. That quality did not suddenly appear out of thin air, though: the Eagles and their general manager, Howie Roseman, invested considerable resources to build a defensive line that ferocious.
Davis and Carter, for example, were the team’s first-round draft picks in 2022 and 2023, respectively; Williams was a third-rounder in 2021. Edge rushers Josh Sweat (Round 4, 2018), Nolan Smith (Round 1, 2022) and Jalyx Hunt (Round 3, 2024) were drafted by the Eagles as well.
What this shows is that Philadelphia invested considerable resources in its defensive line over the last few years. On Sunday, the effect of those moves on full display.
The same was true on offense. Four of the Eagles’ five starting offensive linemen were drafted by the team, with the fifth — right guard Mekhi Becton — signed as a free agent last offseason. Becton was a perfect fit for Philadelphia’s strategy when it comes to building an O-line: the taller and heavier, the better.
In fact, the team’s offensive line became the tallest and heaviest to ever play in a...
