Abdimalik Mohamed, sports editor

As they walked off the field at the Caesars Superdome, the look on the faces of the Kansas City Chiefs players and coaches was one of disappointment, anger and sadness. On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Chiefs were demolished by the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX. Don’t look at the score and think it was close by the way, the Chiefs didn’t even score until the third quarter and the Eagles already had 34 points on them. Once they hit 40-6, the Eagles put in their backups and were playing off of the Chiefs knowing they had the game in hand. 

This game was a massive loss for Kansas City. Having put in the work all year long in OTAs, training camp, preseason, regular season and playoffs and then for it all to be for naught is gut wrenching. This is especially so knowing that you were on the doorstep of the first Super Bowl three-peat in the history of the National Football League. After the game, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to NBC Sports, “Today was a rough day,” Reid said. “Didn’t play well in any of the phases. Didn’t coach good enough — they did a nice job. I’m proud of our guys, though.” 

That was also a theme of the game: coaching. The Eagles played like they knew everything the Chiefs were going to do, giving them an edge and physicality that left the Chiefs stumbling and looking shell-shocked. Another issue that was glaring when watching the game was Kansas City’s defensive game plan and how it came back to bite them later. Their whole plan was to stop Eagles running back Saquon Barkley who had just won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year a couple of days earlier. They also dared Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to beat them through the air. Now, this game plan is sound and smart but all that this did was motivate Hurts to play harder. Hurts completed 17 passes out of 22 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, he also ran 72 yards and a touchdown. His play earned him Super Bowl MVP honors and after the game he proclaimed to the New York Times, “It’s only the beginning until it’s the end and the end ain’t coming soon.” 

The constant disrespect is nothing for the 26-year-old. At Alabama, he was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa in the College Football National Championship, then had to transfer to Oklahoma for a year and then was drafted to the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 draft pick as the backup quarterback to Carson Wentz. He has constantly had to deal with adversity, so Sunday was validation. Perhaps this is the start of the Eagles’ own three-peat, but only time and next year’s season will tell.