Before the Super Bowl LIX, everyone was banking on Saquon Barkley to lead the Eagles to a win. However, the Kansas City Chiefs held Saquon Barkley to 57 rushing yards on 25 carries. And yet, the Philadelphia Eagles trounced them 40-22 anyway, ending Kansas City’s quest for a three-peat.
Advertisement
There are a multitude of reasons the Chiefs failed to win this year’s Lombardi Trophy. They lacked a quality rushing attack. Their offensive tackles struggled in pass protection.
To Bill Belichick, though, Kansas City’s defense failing to get the ball back to Patrick Mahomes – despite limiting Barkley’s rushing production – is what cost them the game. He explained on the Let’s Go! podcast:
“What hurt the Chiefs the most in the first half… [was] defensively, they just weren’t able to get off the field on third down. They made a big third-down stop… and then lined up offside. Those are the kind of mistakes you just can’t make in a game like this.”
The Chiefs trailed the Eagles 24-0 at halftime of Super Bowl LIX. They hoped to find a spark following some halftime adjustments but didn’t get anywhere.
In Belichick’s opinion, head coach Andy Reid’s changes were smart but didn’t take hold because of how the massive deficit changed Philly’s approach. There were just too many “holding penalties” and “pressures” from the “good pass-rushing team.”
“Once the Eagles got the lead and could play from ahead, the pass rush was just consuming… Andy [Reid] tried changing the pace of the game in the third quarter. It was a good move… [but] ultimately…there were just too many [negative plays].”
At halftime, when they trailed 24-0, the Chiefs had just one first down and 23 net yards. They were 0-for-6 on third-down conversions. Some still held hope. After all, the Patriots had managed to come back from a 28-3 deficit during Super Bowl LI. But Belichick—the man who had been leading the Patriots on that fateful day—had had no such delusions.
Belichick didn’t think the Chiefs could duplicate Patriots’ historic comeback
The New England Patriots were losing 28-3 to the Atlanta Falcons late in the third quarter of Super Bowl LI. Belichick and Tom Brady somehow overcame that margin to earn a 34-28 overtime triumph for their fifth Lombardi Trophy. When Mahomes fell behind 24-0, it was easy to draw parallels to that Patriots moment.
While Belichick said “you never know in a game like that” how things could turn, he had felt it would take a pretty significant “mistake or two” for the Eagles to leave the door open for Patrick Mahomes.
“We’ve seen a lot of Super Bowls where the first half and second half look quite different… there was certainly a chance, with Kansas City getting the ball to start the third quarter that… they could have gotten back into the game quickly… [but] as long as Philadelphia played to the standard they were playing to, I felt like they were in pretty good shape.”
Jalen Hurts and Co. more than maintained their level of play, ultimately romping to victory. The Chiefs didn’t crack the scoring column until they trailed 34-0 late in the third quarter.
As a result, Mahomes’ legacy – unfairly in Belichick’s estimation – has taken a hit. Kansas City’s three-time champion will try to rebound, possibly without his favorite target, in 2025.
