Dominant Eagles defence deny Chiefs three-peat

Seven years after winning their first Vince Lombardi trophy, the Philadelphia Eagles are back on top of the NFL summit.

- Bryan Armen Graham

Behind a MVP performance from the quarterback Jalen Hurts and a defensive masterclass that harried, hit and harassed Patrick Mahomes into one of the worst games of his career, the Eagles steamrolled to a 40-22 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night that was not as narrow as the scoreline suggests.

The 59th Super Bowl was the second meeting in three years between Philadelphia and Kansas City on the NFL's biggest stage, with the Eagles still nursing the scars of the first instalment: a 38-35 Chiefs win in which a hobbled Mahomes orchestrated a near-perfect second half to overturn a 10-point deficit that erased Hurts's career-best performance. This one went the other way.

Hurts threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, running for 72 yards and adding a third score on a Tush Push - the result more than making up for a stat line that was not quite as flashy as two years ago. But it was a commanding defensive performance including a pick-six by the rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean on his 22nd birthday and six sacks from the ravenous Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Jordan Davis and Jalyx Hunt that sparked a first-half avalanche and helped ensure Philadelphia could weather a rare ordinary day from the star running back Saquon Barkley.