Despite an outstanding Jalen Hurts, the Philadelphia Eagles lose an epic Super Bowl. With a collapse that can hardly be explained, the defence let their quarterback and the offence down – leaving little room for excuses in the end.

Always one step too late. In the most important game of the season, of all things.

The Philadelphia Eagles lost the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs with 35:38 despite 35 points of their own and a record-breaking performance by Jalen Hurts. Although the quarterback was by no means flawless, he did suffer a precious fumble in the second quarter.

The Eagles were not let down by their quarterback, but by their own defence. Especially in the decisive moments, Patrick Mahomes and his offense had it too easy.

Eagles defence, where art though?

The second best defence in the league. That was the Eagles after the regular season. The passing unit allowed only 180 yards per game through the air – best in the NFL. Overall, opponents of the Eagles averaged 301.5 yards and 20.2 points against the Eagles.

Numbers that Nick Sirianni’s team also confirmed in the playoffs, even surpassed. Against both the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia allowed only seven points. There was no sign of that in the Super Bowl.

On the one hand, the Eagles held Mahomes to just 182 yards through the air, but on the other, they allowed nearly 160 yards via the run – the third most this season. But even the total numbers don’t alone confirm or justify the 38 points allowed.

Philadelphia’s defence allowed 6.4 yards per play, the second-highest total all season. Of the Chiefs’ 53 plays, they converted 21 into first downs.

Chiefs plan catches overmatched Eagles

Mahomes threw for three touchdowns despite having few yards by his standards. On the first Chiefs drive, he found his favourite target Travis Kelce wide open in the end zone. Shutting down the duo of Kelce and Mahomes for an entire game is nearly impossible. Eagles safety Marcus Epps’ disorientation on that drive, however, was just the first of many unfortunate situations.

Philadelphia’s secondary was too often the famous step too late throughout the game – or even five. Early in the fourth quarter, the defence was a mere extra on two nearly identical touchdowns. Both Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney were all alone for the catch in the end zone.

The Chiefs managed to create a one on one on all three touchdowns. According to quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy, that was exactly the plan: “A lot of teams wanted to play man coverage against us this year. That can be successful at times, but if our guys get that matchup, they’re going to win.” Moore commented on his first Super Bowl touchdown, “As soon as I got going and saw how he reacted, I knew I had him.”

To make matters worse, cornerback James Bradberry’s holding penalty inside the final two minutes caused the Eagles’ neckbreak. He also admitted his offence after the game, “It was a holding. I was hoping they’d let it go. “

Philadelphia Eagles: No access to Patrick Mahomes

But the fact that the secondary had its big problems was also due to the defensive line and the pass rushers around Haason Reddick, who couldn’t get access to Mahomes in the Super Bowl. With 70 sacks in the regular season, the Eagles were miles ahead of the competition in this statistic. Credit is due to the Chiefs’ offensive line, who protected their banged-up quarterback like their most sacred possession.

Often the Eagles came close. Ten times, in fact, they put pressure on the Super Bowl MVP. But the fact that the Eagles only got Mahomes on a scramble is something Philadelphia’s defenders have to chalk up to themselves in the end. Even if Reddick blamed “disastrous” turf as part of the blame.

“If you give him enough time, great things can happen. I think we gave him enough time, that extra second to make that particular throw,” offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy said afterward, praising his O-line’s terrific work.

Brandom Graham: “Defeat like a stab in the heart “

This also gave Head Coach Andy Reid the opportunity to fully trust his team’s run game. Instead of relying more on the popular run-pass option with Mahomes, the Chiefs showed classic running plays at times – running back Isiah Pacheco set more than pinpricks with his 76 yards and a touchdown. In the second half alone, the Chiefs scored 126 yards on 17 runs.

Defensive end Brandon Graham was dismayed after the loss: “We know we didn’t show our best side […] It definitely hurts. Like a stab in the heart. You can taste it, you can feel it. We knew we just had to make a play.” But nobody made that play on defense.

No sack, no interception, no forced fumble. Without one of these potentially game-changing plays, it’s going to be hard for any team to win a game. Especially against the Kansas City Chiefs. On the biggest stage in American football.

The offense did the best it could. Maybe even the best. But the defence let them down.