NEW ORLEANS -- As the Philadelphia Eagles hugged each other, posed for photos and chatted with reporters in the wake of their Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, an unassuming, gray-haired man with a green baseball cap pulled low over his eyes quietly sauntered through the hysteria.
It would've been easy to miss defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in the midst of that postgame celebration, but his impact had been felt all night.
The Eagles were savoring their second championship in eight years because of the unit he created this season.
As Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said, "Vic is a wizard. He came through in a big way tonight."
There are many reasons why the Eagles ended the Chiefs' quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl win with a resounding 40-22 victory on Sunday. The most obvious was the masterful performance by a defense that overwhelmed Kansas City's offense in ways we've never seen. It wasn't a secret that Philadelphia has tons of talent on that side of the football, including emerging stars like defensive tackle Jalen Carter, linebacker Zack Baun and rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. What made this unit special on Sunday -- and throughout this season, when they finished first in yards allowed and second in points allowed -- was the way Fangio unleashed it.
The Eagles finished with six sacks and hounded Patrick Mahomes on several other dropbacks. They intercepted him twice in the first half, including one that DeJean returned 38 yards for a touchdown and another that Baun secured to set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown right before halftime. Philadelphia led 24-0 at that point. The only question left by then was how ugly this loss was going to become for a Chiefs team that was used to playing -- and usually winning -- close games.
The idea that Philadelphia could rattle Mahomes, who had cemented himself alongside Tom Brady as one of the best postseason quarterbacks in history, seemed preposterous heading into this contest. The results say that's exactly what happened, as a couple late touchdown passes couldn't obscure the fact that the Chiefs produced just one first down and 23 total yards through the first two quarters.
"Our players just played great," Fangio said. "They had the right mindset coming into the game and they played great. Our pass rush was going to have to be important and it was."
"They only blitzed like two times or one time all game," said Mahomes, who threw for 224 of his 257 yards and all three of his touchdowns after halftime. "They were going to make me be a fundamental quarterback and play from the pocket and take what's there. That's stuff I have to be better at."
Fangio's plan for attacking Mahomes wasn't overly complex. Philadelphia wanted to rely on its front four to create relentless pressure on the star quarterback, while allowing its linebackers and defensive backs to focus on shadowing Kansas City's receivers. It's a scheme that Fangio has used successfully throughout his career, and it had given Mahomes problems when Fangio coached the Broncos from 2019 to 2021. Even though Fangio never beat the Chiefs during his tenure in Denver, he did prove himself to be one of the few coordinators who could find ways to contain Mahomes.
That hope of disrupting Mahomes was even more realistic because the Chiefs were vulnerable in a couple areas offensively. They were playing All-Pro guard Joe Thuney at left tackle because of issues at that position and using former backup Mike Caliendo as Thuney's replacement inside. Caliendo had been struggling in that spot, and the Eagles clearly wanted to attack him. Fangio also felt comfortable with the matchups between his secondary and the Chiefs' receivers, as rookie Xavier Worthy -- who produced most of his 157 receiving yards and two touchdowns long after the game had been decided -- was the only target who could be deemed explosive.
The Eagles quickly took away the short passing game that Mahomes had used late in the season to minimize the pass-protection problems. The Chiefs really had no other option for moving the football after that. Tight end Travis Kelce finished with four receptions for 39 yards and no receiver besides Worthy produced more than 18 yards. The running attack was even more anemic for Kansas City, as its three backs (Kareem Hunt, Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine) combined for 24 yards on seven carries.
When asked about the dominance of the front four, defensive end Josh Sweat said, "It allows the guys to cover on the back end. We don't have to add extra guys to do that. It's just what we look for. We don't like when we have to send extra guys and stuff. That's our pride -- getting it done with a four-man rush."
This championship reinforced the wisdom the Eagles displayed in hiring Fangio -- and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore -- last offseason.
As much as people focused on the impact of running back Saquon Barkley on this offense, the defense was the major weakness for this team last season. That unit surrendered a ton of big plays and struggled to find any consistency in pass coverage. It also didn't help that the Eagles were relying on younger players like Carter, defensive tackle Jordan Davis and edge rusher Nolan Smith to grow up in a hurry.
Fangio helped this unit find itself as the season went on.
Carter developed into a force of nature on the interior, Baun blossomed into the biggest free-agent bargain of the year and Mitchell and DeJean impressed so much that both players finished in the top five of voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Eagles had just four defensive players appear in this game who were a part of that 2022 team that lost to Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII: Graham, Sweat, cornerback Darius Slay and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Fangio created a new identity out of a younger, more-talented core, one that left an indelible mark on this game.
Those defensive holdovers also said there was extra motivation in this contest because of how that last Super Bowl meeting with Kansas City played out, as the Chiefs won, 38-35. Philly's defense was dominant that year, as well -- amassing 70 sacks in the regular season -- but couldn't contain Mahomes when it mattered.
"I'm proud of these guys," Graham said. "Last time this game ended, it was red (confetti) at the end because it was all about the Chiefs. We owed them, and I'm glad we got it this time."
The Eagles got it done in ways that likely stunned anybody who watched this contest.
This game had a chance of being a Kansas City coronation, as another Super Bowl win would've cemented the Chiefs as an unprecedented dynasty.
Instead, it was the Eagles defense that stole the show by shutting down one of the best quarterbacks we've ever seen. The players deserve a ton of credit for that, but so does a coordinator who proved to be one of the best hires of 2024.
