Super Bowl 2025: Eagles, Jalen Hurts dominate Kansas City to claim franchise's second Super Bowl title

NEW ORLEANS — The Philadelphia Eagles made sure history didn’t repeat itself or three-peat itself.

Philadelphia spoiled Patrick Mahomes’ and Kansas City’s dreams of becoming the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls. The Eagles manhandled and dominated Kansas City, 40-22, on Sunday night to win Super Bowl LIX and capture the franchise’s second Super Bowl title.

“Fly Eagles Fly,” Philadelphia’s fight song, was played a lot inside the Superdome. The Eagles scored the game’s first 34 points and rolled to the win.

This was a rematch of Super Bowl LVII that Kansas City won in the final seconds to start this quest for a three-peat. The Eagles avenged that loss and left no doubt, suffocating Mahomes and Kansas City to win their second championship in eight seasons. It’s coach Nick Sirianni’s first.

“We knew we had a special team,” Sirianni said. “We knew we had a group of guys that could do some special things. You can’t be great without the greatness of others.”

Quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the game’s MVP after getting it done with his arms and his legs. He completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s been a fun ride and I’ve embraced every step,” Hurts said. “I took great pride in never backing down from a challenge. I always turn my negatives into positives and my weaknesses into strengths.”

The Eagles were an explosive team when they lost to Kansas City two years ago. They added more firepower last March, signing former Giants running back Saquon Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million contract.

It was money very well spent. Barkley led the NFL with 2,005 yards rushing and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He finished with 97 scrimmage yards on 31 touches on Sunday and set a record for the most rushing yards in a season, postseason included (2,504).

“You dream about this moment as a little kid,” Barkley said. “It was a hell of a year. All the numbers and stats and records is cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy.”

Another huge addition was the hiring of Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator last year. Fangio had an MVP-like performance Sunday. His defense frustrated and flummoxed Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP.

“Vic’s been a great coordinator in this league for decades and he was awesome today,” Sirianni said.

Mahomes completed 21 of 32 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns. He threw two interceptions — one that was returned 38 yards for a touchdown by Cooper DeJean and one that led to a touchdown. Mahomes also lost a fumble and was sacked six times.

Kansas City didn’t score until the final seconds of the third quarter and had two late touchdowns that made the score look closer than it was.

“The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that,” Mahomes said. “I got to be better next time.”

Josh Sweat sacked Mahomes 2.5 times and Milton Williams had two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Former Jet Mekhi Becton, who signed with the Eagles in the offseason, was crying on the sideline late in the game as he hugged Sirianni.

Much of the conversation leading up to the game was whether Mahomes could be considered The GOAT (greatest of all time) if he led Kansas City to the three-peat. That’s still reserved for Tom Brady, who won seven Super Bowls.

Mahomes still is among a select group with three Super Bowl victories. He remains tied with Troy Aikman for the fourth-most in NFL history. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw have four each.

Mahomes is only 29 and has plenty of football left in him, but catching Brady gets tougher with each Super Bowl loss. Mahomes is 3-2 in the big game.

“It hurts,” he said. “It’s going to hurt for a while.”

This could have been Kansas City tight Travis Kelce’s final game. Earlier in the week, Kelce, 35, said he hopes to play three more years, but he reportedly is uncertain about his future. He caught four passes for 39 yards.

The Eagles controlled this game from the beginning and held a 24-0 lead at halftime after outgaining Kansas City 179-23 and recording 13 first downs to KC’s one. Mahomes was 6-for-14 for 33 yards and threw two interceptions in the half.

The Eagles kicked a field goal on their first possession of the second half and needed only one play on their second possession to score again. After Mahomes’ fourth-down pass was broken up by Avonte Maddox, Philadelphia took over at the Kansas City 46. On first down, Hurts launched a perfectly thrown ball to DaVonta Smith for a 46-yard touchdown that made it 34-0.

It took Kansas City 44:26 to finally get on the board. Mahomes threw a 24-yard touchdown pass on the move to Xavier Worthy, who had eight catches for 157 yards and two TDs. Kansas City’s two-point attempt failed, leaving the score at 34-6 heading to the fourth quarter.

On Philadelphia’s next possession, Jake Elliott kicked a 48-yard field goal to extend the Eagles’ lead to 37-6.

Mahomes committed his third turnover on the following series. He was sacked on first down and fumbled, the Eagles recovered and Elliott kicked a 50-yard field goal, his fourth successful kick of the game.

Under duress from the beginning, Mahomes made a costly mistake with Kansas City down 10-0.

After being sacked on back-to-back plays, he rolled right and threw behind DeAndre Hopkins. DeJean picked it off and ran 38 yards for the touchdown to make it 17-0 with 7:03 remaining in the second quarter.

Another interception of a Mahomes pass two series later led to Hurts hitting Brown for a 12-yard touchdown.

“Our defense played their [butts] off today,” Hurts said. “It took a team effort, took a group effort. The only thing that I could think about is all the effort it took over a course of time.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.