Jalen Hurts' Redemption Delivers Eagles the Lombardi | 4 Downs
The Eagles stonewall Kansas City's Super Bowl three-peat bid, 40-22 in dominant fashion.
Two years ago Jalen Hurts famously lingered along the Eagles’ sideline as the red and gold confetti swirled in the Arizona night, watching intently as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their second Super Bowl championship.
Hurts even went so far as to save the image as his cellphone lock screen, in case you were wondering how desperately he wanted to bury that moment forever, relegating it to a footnote in the arc of his career.
That image on Hurts’ lock screen wasn’t just a reminder. It was fuel.
Hurts wasn’t going to let the Chiefs break his heart again. Kansas City knew that, too. Their entire defensive game plan was built around stopping Saquon Barkley, daring Hurts to beat them with his arm. He did just that.
All night long, Hurts shredded Steve Spagnuolo’s defense and walked out of the Superdome with the Lombardi Trophy as the catalyst of a 40-22 blowout.
With 2:40 remaining in the third quarter, Hurts sat in a clean pocket, and hit DeVonta Smith in stride, in the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown. Exclamation point. Ballgame. Hurts had his retribution.
“Once Jalen got the lead,” a rival NFC Executive told me Sunday night. “Philly could really lean into the play-action, which is his game. No pressure. At all.”
Hurts was workmanlike and efficient in the first half, but with the luxury of time and space that comes with a 24-0 lead, Hurts put on a clinic during a time-consuming third-quarter scoring drive that put the Eagles’ Super Bowl lead out of reach for good.
On the Eagles’ first possession of the second half, Hurts methodically moved the Eagles 74 yards down the field, draining six precious minutes and 42 seconds off Patrick Mahomes’ chances of a fourth superhuman Super Bowl comeback before Jake Elliott split the uprights on a 29-yard field goal.
Sunday night, against the most successful and daunting head coach and quarterback combinations of this decade and among the greatest in NFL history, Hurts put together the kind of performance that legends are made of.
Hurts, with all the subtlety of the old 700 Level at Veterans Stadium, set the tone for this Super Bowl with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.
On 2nd-and-11, Steve Spagnuolo dialed up a brilliant blitz, sending Chamarri Conner on a delayed rush, but Barkley picked it up perfectly, giving Hurts just enough time to unleash a 28-yard bomb to Jahan Dotson down to the one-yard line. On the next snap, Hurts cashed in with a tush-push touchdown.
By finishing 17-of-22 passing for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, a 119.7 passer rating with 72 rushing yards and a tush-push score while triggering amateur fireworks shows all across the greater Philadelphia region, Hurts takes his place among the immortals in one of America’s great sports cities.
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This was Roy Halladay’s postseason no-hitter, Bernie Parent’s .935 career save percentage in the Stanley Cup Final, and Moses Malone and Julius Erving’s theatrics in the 1983 NBA finals, vanquishing the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers, all rolled into one.
At just 26, Hurts is entering his prime—but he’s already etched his name in both NFL history and Philadelphia’s storied sports legacy.
Two years after heartbreak, Hurts now stands shoulder to shoulder with Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, MVP Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow—only now, he’s the one holding the Lombardi.
Inside this column: How the Eagles’ defense strangled out the Chiefs’ bid for a third consecutive Super Bowl, a favorite emerges in the Deebo Samuel sweepstakes, the teams with the best chance to keep the Eagles and Chiefs from a Super Bowl rematch next season, and more!
First Down: Eagles’ Defense Delivers Historic Super Bowl Performance, Cementing Its Place Among the NFL’s All-Time Greats
Vic Fangio’s defense wasn’t just impressive—it was historic.
In a performance that stifled Patrick Mahomes, this Eagles defense etched its name as one of the greatest to ever grace the big stage.
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