The dominant force in the Philadelphia Eagles’ shocking dismantling of the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night in Super Bowl LIX wasn’t even on the field.
If you watched the Eagles’ defense this season compared to 2023, you know it. And if you watched the Superman cape unceremoniously ripped off of Patrick Mahomes, you saw it again.
Vic Fangio and Super Bowl 59
Tony Fisher
The biggest improvement in the Eagles this season is the same guy who should have won Super Bowl LIX: Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts won the MVP for his three touchdowns and combined 293 yards in the 40-22 romp over the two-time champion Chiefs. But it was Fangio’s defense that set the tone and framed the game by pressuring, harassing and turning Mahomes into a mere mortal.
Using essentially a four-man pass rush without blitzes, Fangio’s defense sacked Mahomes six times (including 2.5 by defensive lineman Josh Sweat) and forced him into three turnovers including safety Cooper DeJean’s Pick Six that ballooned their lead to 17-0 in the second quarter. Mahomes threw his three touchdown passes after his team trailed by 34 points. Make no mistake, this was epic beatdown of one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all-time.
Fangio’s done it all season, authoring one of the most remarkable defensive turnarounds in NFL history.
To end last season, the Eagles allowed 31 points and 404 yards per game in cratering from a 10-1 start to a blowout loss in the Wild Card round. They were confused. They didn’t tackle. They were a complete mess.
Enter Fangio.
The Eagles had the No. 1 defense in the NFL during the regular season and allowed just eight touchdowns in four postseason games – three coming in Sunday’s garbage-time second half after Philly built a 34-0 lead.
The Eagles jumped from 26th last year in yards allowed to first, and that’s the biggest jump to the No. 1 spot in NFL history. An old roster got younger and better, with rookie defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean. Young players Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean and Jalen Carter made huge jumps, and the emergence of Zack Baun and re-signing of C.J. Gardner-Johnson helped transform the defense into an elite unit.
Running back Saquon Barkley gets the hype. Hurts got the hardware, and Philly got the record of 92 combined points in a conference championship game and Super Bowl. But Eagles fans know the truth: It’s Fangio who should get the credit.
