The Philadelphia Eagles trounced the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX.
Kansas City was already being praised for winning three straight championships before the game even began, and the Chiefs arrived to Caesars Superdome in style. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes waddled in donning an Eagles-inspired midnight green suit, and tight end Travis Kelce strutted in wearing a groovy 1970s suit.
The confidence didn’t last long. While the final score seems somewhat respectable, the team in Philadelphia’s rear view mirror was not closer than it appeared.
Mahomes was rattled by the end of the first quarter. Kelce was visibly hopeless by the end of the second quarter. In the third quarter, Chiefs players were either pretending they could recreate the infamous Super Bowl LI comeback or crying uncontrollably.
Vic Fangio wanted to beat the Chiefs even worse than he did
During an appearance on “Pete Takes,” Eagles rookie linebacker Jalyx Hunt discussed how defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was unhappy with the defense’s second-half performance in Super Bowl LIX.
Teams usually don’t review Super Bowl tape since there are no more games to be played. Yet, when the Eagles held a team meeting to discuss the parade, Fangio instructed the defense to stay in the room after the meeting to review their mistakes.
“He doesn’t want teams to score at all,” Hunt said. “Matter of fact, after we won the Super Bowl, we came in … just for a team meeting to let everyone know how the parade was gonna go. The offense dips out. Vic [says], ‘Oh, no. Defense come here.’”
Fangio provides his defense with a checklist of keys to winning each game. The list for Super Bowl LIX included limiting explosive plays, winning on third and fourth downs, red zone efficiency, tackling and sacking Mahomes.
“He goes over — we have a checklist each game of what we need to do to,” Hunt said. “He goes to just the first half stats, ‘Good, we stopped them here, they got [23] yards in the first half.’"
“‘This is unacceptable.’ Circles the second half. ‘Unacceptable. 22 points,’” Hunt said. “We won, they didn’t score in the first half. We’re having a meeting after the Super Bowl. He wants perfection.”
Jalyx Hunt says that even after the Super Bowl, after a team meeting going over parade-prep, Vic Fangio made the defense stay back after to go over the game: “He gets to the 2nd half, and he says ‘This is unacceptable. Unacceptable. 22 points.’ He wants perfection.”
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) February 24, 2025
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The Eagles allowed just 23 total yards in the first half, and Kansas City didn’t score their first points until the final minute of the third quarter. By then, the score was 34-0. The Chiefs scored their last two touchdowns against Philadelphia’s backups in the final three minutes of the game.
While Fangio’s reaction may seem excessive, those are the tiny details that helped the Eagles dominate their opponents throughout the 2024 season.