By Sarah Barber
Medill Reports
NEW ORLEANS — The “tomahawk chop” chant echoed loudly throughout Caesars Superdome throughout Super Bowl LIX, but the chorus wasn’t sung by the voices of the Kansas City Chiefs’ faithful — it was Philadelphia Eagles fans, donned proudly in their kelly green, mocking their opponents’ trademark celebration as they watched Philadelphia crush Kansas City’s three-peat dreams.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts treated fans to a masterclass in football as the Eagles shut out the Chiefs in the first half, leading Philadelphia to a decisive 40-22 championship victory in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII.
“It definitely took a team effort,” Hurts said in his postgame news conference after being named MVP. “The only thing I can think about is the amount of effort and work that has been put in over time. We had a focused group of players out there.”
The quarterback finished 17-for-22 for 221 yards with two touchdowns and a record-setting 72 rushing yards, surpassing his previous 70 from 2023, plus a one-yard rushing touchdown on the Eagles’ signature “Brotherly Shove.” The Eagles had seven first downs from rushing, while the Chiefs had just one. Hurts commanded the field throughout the night, dominating Kansas City not only in points but leadership as well.
“You cannot be great without the greatness of others,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said in his postgame news conference. “Like Jalen can’t do it by himself. He needs A.J. (Brown), he needs that offensive line. He needs Saquon (Barkley) and vice versa.”
Barkley recorded 57 rushing yards Sunday night, finishing the season with a total of 2,504 to surpass Hall of Famer Terrell Davis’s existing record for regular season plus playoffs.
“The reason Saquon had a special year is not only the offensive line, but the attention that Jalen commands for the run game,” Sirianni said. “He’s special, Jalen’s special.”
Hurts was special tonight.
He built momentum for his team, and it was felt in the stadium. Penalties against the Chiefs were met with cheers, and Philadelphia fans throughout the stadium led the “E-A-G-L-E-S” cheer too many times to count. Hurts’ strong performance had Kansas City fans departing the Superdome as early as the third quarter, when the Eagles were ahead 34-0, while Philadelphia fans celebrated their departure.
“I have a lot of respect for Jalen, and I said it after the first Super Bowl we played against them, I said he will be back, and he was, and he got the better of me today,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said after the game.
Hurts had a history of coming up short in championship games. In 2018, he was benched at halftime in the College Football National Championship, finishing 3-for-7 with no touchdowns and having to watch from the sideline as freshman Tua Tagovailoa led Alabama’s comeback victory. In the Super Bowl two years ago, Hurts had stellar statistics but lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown as the Eagles lost to the Chiefs.
“It’s been a long journey, it’s a journey of ups and downs and highs and lows,” Hurts said. “I’ve always stayed true to myself and have this vision of being the best that I can be, and that evolved, over time, into this desire to win.”
Sunday’s victory made him just the fourth quarterback in NFL history to return to the Super Bowl and win after a previous loss. Despite the obvious potential for a revenge storyline, that wasn’t how Hurts and the Eagles approached this game.
“It’s about us. It’s about us and how we approach things,” Hurts said. “Never get too high or too low in this process. You got to be able to use these experiences that you’ve had in the past, because they’re all formative for the future, and we’ve been able to do that.”
For Hurts and his team, the focus Sunday night was on being ready for anything and learning from the past, and they did just that.
“(Hurts) had an unbelievable game today when we needed him to,” Sirianni said. “Him and this team are world champs forever.”
Sarah Barber is a sports media graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter/X @sarahbarber49.
