By Rory Carroll and Amy Tennery
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) -The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Chiefs 40-22 in Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans to deny Kansas City in their bid for a third consecutive title and exact brutal revenge for their loss to the team in the NFL title game two years ago.
The Eagles bullied the Chiefs behind a defensive effort that overwhelmed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, culminating with a strip sack with less than 10 minutes to play that ended any hopes of a comeback.
In the city where jazz was born, versatile Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was a masterful conductor, making music with his legs and his arm to score three total touchdowns en route to earning Super Bowl MVP honors.
“It’s been a long journey, a journey with ups and downs, highs and lows,” first-time Super Bowl champion Hurts told reporters.
“You’ve got to be able to use these experiences that you’ve had in the past because they’re all formative for the future.”
Hurts finished 17-of-22 for 221 passing yards and rushed for 72 more on 11 carries, his only misstep a first half interception that ultimately proved harmless.
It was the Eagles’ second Super Bowl title after they beat the New England Patriots in 2018 and it played out before a sold-out crowd that included U.S. President Donald Trump, pop superstar Taylor Swift and a bevy of other A-list celebrities.
It marked the first time a sitting president had attended a Super Bowl and Trump watched the first half of the game at the Superdome before leaving.
The win spelled sweet revenge for the Eagles after their heartbreaking 38-35 defeat to the Chiefs in Phoenix two years ago.
“In the end, things come right on time,” Hurts said.
“Last time around, it wasn’t our time. It wasn’t my time. Sometimes you have to wait your turn.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni shed tears of joy on the field while embracing his family after the victory.
“You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” he said.
“This is the best team sport there is. It took everybody, I’m so happy.”
Mahomes, who was sacked six times and turned the ball over three times, took ownership for the painful loss that cost his team a chance at completing an unprecedented Super Bowl “three-peat.”
“I threw two interceptions in their end, I mean, I threw a pick six, and I threw a pick that they returned to the five-yard line, and they scored immediately after,” Mahomes told reporters.
“So, you give the team 14 points, especially a really good football team, a Super Bowl football team, and not a lot of good things happen.
“That’s why I take ownership of this loss more than probably any loss in my entire career, because I put us in a bad spot there.”
EAGLES FLYING START
The Eagles got the scoring started with their signature play – a goal line move they call the “brotherly shove” in reference to Philadelphia’s “City of Brotherly Love” nickname – with Hurts plowing into the end zone behind his powerful offensive line as his teammates forced him forward.
Eagles’ rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean picked off a poor pass from Mahomes in the second quarter and scampered 38 yards to score Philadelphia’s second touchdown on the rookie’s 22nd birthday.
Mahomes was intercepted again late in the first half and two plays later the Eagles found the end zone once more as Hurts connected with receiver A.J. Brown.
The Eagles led 24-0 going into halftime and continued to roll after the break, as Avonte Maddox broke up Mahomes’ pass on an attempted fourth down conversion in the third quarter.
On the next play Hurts delivered a 46-yard strike to DeVonta Smith to build a 34-0 lead and the celebration was on for the thousands of vocal Eagles fans in attendance.
The Chiefs finally got on the board in the waning moments of the third quarter with a touchdown pass from Mahomes to rookie Xavier Worthy.
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott completed two of his four successful field goal attempts in the second half to extend the lead to 40-6.
The Chiefs would tack on two more touchdowns after the game was well out of reach, with Sirianni receiving a Gatorade bath long before the two-minute warning, as receivers Brown and Smith poured the yellow sports drink over his head, utterly soaking the 43-year-old play caller.
Eagles’ dazzling running back Saquon Barkley grabbed 57 rushing yards and broke the all-time NFL record for most rushing yards in a regular season plus playoffs to add icing to their championship cake.
Barkley joined the Eagles in the offseason and transformed the team’s offense with his explosive playmaking.
“You dream about it for a very long time, you fantasize about it for a very long time, but I’m still in shock. I can’t believe it,” said Barkley, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Sunday.
“This team put in so much work. We made up our mind after the bye week to be a team they are going to talk about for a very long time.
“We came out here and got the job done.”
(Reporting by Joseph Ax, Nathan Frandino, Maria Cardona, Cath Turner, Jeff Mason, Ossian Shine and Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Toby Davis and Christian Schmollinger)
