Eagles dominate Chiefs, end quest for three-peat with 40-22 win
NEW ORLEANS (KCTV) - With the Kansas City Chiefs on the precipice of summiting a historic championship mountain, a cavalcade of errors led to a monumental hole. What became the largest postseason deficit in the Patrick Mahomes era was too much for the Chiefs to overcome, falling short of their three-peat dreams in a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that was a start-to-finish drumming.
“We’ll learn from this,” said Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. “You learn from it as a coach, you learn from it as a player and you move on.”
By halftime, the Chiefs had fewer yards (23) than the Philadelphia Eagles had points (24). The 24-point deficit was fueled by a signature “Tush Push” 1-yard touchdown run for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, a pick-6 from Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean and a walk-in touchdown reception for wide receiver AJ Brown.
The 24-0 halftime deficit matched Kansas City’s largest playoff deficit in the Patrick Mahomes era, when the Chiefs also trailed the Houston Texans 24-0 in a 2019 AFC Divisional game. Unlike that matchup five years ago, Kansas City had no answers to their issues and didn’t respond with a 28-0 run of their own.
Instead, Philadelphia extended its lead to 34-0 after forcing a Chiefs punt on Kansas City’s first drive of the second half and adding a chip shot field goal and long touchdown reception.
Kansas City’s first offensive play of the game was an 11-yard gain to Juju Smith-Schuster. That first down was Kansas City’s only first down of the first half, with Philadelphia outgaining the Chiefs 179-23 in the game’s first 30 minutes.
“Today was a rough day all around. Nothing went right. I didn’t coach well,” said Reid. “Too many turnovers, too many penalties. Against a good football team can’t do that.”
Along with being pressured by countless Eagles defenders despite Philadelphia never needing to blitz, Mahomes ran himself into pressure and uncharacteristically turned the football over. The pick-6 to DeJean was the first in 21 career playoff games for Mahomes and ended a 297 streak without an interception this season.
“We didn’t start how we wanted to,” Mahomes said. “The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that.”
A pressure from Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton led to a back-foot throw from Jalen Hurts, who was intercepted by safety Bryan Cook with 14:21 remaining in the second quarter and the Chiefs trailing 7-0. That was one of Kansas City’s lone positive plays in a first half that featured offensive ineptitude and defensive letdowns countless times as the Eagles picked up several third-down conversions.
The Chiefs avoided becoming the first team in Super Bowl history to be shutout when Mahomes found rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 24-yard touchdown reception late in the third quarter that cut the Eagles lead to 34-6 following a failed 2-point conversion.
Kansas City’s first score of the night came on a 5-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that followed a 46-yard touchdown reception from Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith.
Mahomes connected with veteran wide receiver Deandre Hopkins for a fourth-quarter touchdown score and later hit Worthy for a 50-yard score in the final two minutes of the game to cut into the final score.
READ MORE: ‘Worst feeling in the world’: Mahomes says Super Bowl loss will fuel remainder of his career
Kansas City was attempting to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls. By just appearing in the game, the Chiefs were the first team to ever reach the Super Bowl in a three-peat attempt.
When all was said and done, Mahomes finished with two interceptions and a strip-sack fumble. He completed 21 of 32 es for 257 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also was Kansas City’s leading rusher with four carries for 25 yards.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 17 of his 22 ing attempts for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception. He also added 72 yards with his legs, a Super Bowl record for a quarterback, and was named Super Bowl LIX MVP.
The Super Bowl loss is the second for Kansas City in the past five seasons after a 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season. It moves Mahomes to 3-2 in Super Bowls, which matches the record of future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady through his first five Super Bowls, and 17-4 in playoff games.
With the loss, Kansas City will have the 31st selection in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Anytime you lose the Super Bowl it’s the worst feeling in the world. It’ll stick with you for the rest of your career,” said Mahomes. “These will be the two losses that will motivate me to be even better throughout the rest of my career because you only get so few of these. You have to capitalize on these and they hurt probably more than the wins feel good.”
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
