The Eagles Are Super Bowl Champions

A belated congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles who are the Super Bowl Champions for the 2024/2025 NFL season.  In staying with a longstanding tradition, my long-suffering wife and I saw the game at a party hosted by a good friend who lives in Center City Philadelphia.  All the other attendees were “locals”; so, as you may imagine, the atmosphere in the room was raucous.

The oddsmakers had this pegged as a close game and it was for the first quarter; at that point, the Eagles led by 7 points and no one in our cadre of viewers thought the game was decided.  From the start of the second quarter until about two minutes were left in the third quarter, it was a flood.  The Eagles ran off 27 unanswered points in those 28 minutes of play, producing a 34-0 lead over the Chiefs.  No one on the planet thought that score would ever show up in the game – – and yet …

Let me dislocate my shoulder by patting myself on the back for a moment here:

• I had the Eagles winning and covering last Friday.  They did both.
• I had the game going OVER the Total Line.  It did.
• I said Cooper DeJean would make a big defensive play.  He recorded a Pick Six.
• I said the Chiefs would prevent Saquon Barkley from running wild.  They did.

Now let me give you the rest of the story:

• I said Total Offense By Both Teams would be OVER 690.5 yards.  No!
• I said Jake Elliott would miss a PAT.  No!
• I said Patrick Mahomes’ longest run would be OVER 11.5 yards.  No!

            I want to make this next point carefully.  I disagree with Jalen Hurts being the game’s MVP.  Let me be clear: Jalen Hurts played extremely well completing 77% of his passes for 221 yards and 2 TDs.  He was also the leading rusher in the game.  Under almost any circumstances the QB of the winning team with stats even remotely like Hurts’ numbers from Sunday would be the honoree.  However, I believe the circumstances of the Eagles’ win were not ordinary circumstances.

#2 son was not with us at the party in Philly; he was watching the game elsewhere and sent me this text somewhere around the end of the third quarter:

“Super Bowl MVP.  The entire Eagles defense!”

I want to refine that a little bit.

• If I oversaw awarding the Super Bowl MVP Award, I would give the trophy to the Eagles’ defensive linemen as a unit.

I read this in three different accounts of the game, so I take it to be the case; the Eagles defense did not blitz Patrick Mahomes one time in the game.  Even so, the four defensive linemen in the game on any random snap recorded six sacks and pressured Mahomes on 11 other pass attempts.  With that sort of pressure coming from the Front Four, the Eagles were able to deploy 7 defenders on every other pass attempt making things very difficult for Mahomes and Company to string together efficient offensive drives.

Let me say it again for emphasis.  Jalen Hurts played a wonderful game on Sunday.  No one should take anything here as a negative comment on his performance.  My point is simply that the Eagles’ defense did something important in the game that does not happen very often and the performance of the defense – – 6 sacks and three turnovers including a Pick Six – – is sufficiently unusual that it should have been so recognized.

With the Super Bowl in the rear-view mirror, the next NFL topic for consideration is free agency for various players.  That Eagles’ defense will see both Josh Sweat and Milton Williams go on the market; after their performances on Sunday, they should be in line for significant contracts; linebacker Zach Baun will also be a free agent having signed only a one-year deal with the Eagles in the last free agency period.  On the offensive side, Eagles’ guard Mekhi Becton will be a free agent.  One thing is certain in the NFL:

• Starters on the winning Super Bowl team who become free agents get plenty of offers to play for other teams starting in the season after the Super Bowl win.
• The Eagles will surely lose some – if not all – of those four starters.

Finally, Dave Barry offered up a Q&A article regarding this year’s Super Bowl Game.  Here is a portion of that Q&A:

“Q. Which team is favored to win the game?

The Chiefs are favored because they have a solid team, a strong coaching staff and Taylor Swift. Also NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has instructed the referees to ‘do whatever it takes to prevent the Eagles from winning, including the use of tasers.’

I don’t believe that.

It’s right here on the Internet.

Why doesn’t the NFL want the Eagles to win?

Because when the Eagles win, their fans riot.

What do they do when the Eagles lose?

They riot, but not as much.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………