Eagles grades: MVP Jalen Hurts spectacular on the biggest stage, and the D-line dominates the Chiefs

NEW ORLEANS — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX:

Jalen Hurts is a Super Bowl champion and MVP and no one can ever take that away from him. The 26-year-old overcame setbacks, struggles, and suspicions about his ability to play quarterback at the highest level. But he showed the world that his performance two years ago when the Eagles fell short of beating the Chiefs in the title game was not an outlier and that he, if anything, was resilient.

Hurts played spectacularly with the Chiefs selling out to stop Saquon Barkley and the Eagles’ run offense. He completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and tossed two touchdowns. There was an interception in the second quarter, but it was his lone big mistake. Hurts also contributed 72 rushing yards, a Super Bowl record for a quarterback, on 11 carries.

The Eagles quarterback had great protection, which allowed him to go through his reads and wait for receivers to get open or check down when needed. And on the few occasions when protection broke down or a Chiefs blitz worked, Hurts often scrambled for first downs. He iced the game with a 46-yard tear drop into receiver DeVonta Smith’s hands in the end zone that gave the Eagles a 34-0 lead late in the third quarter.

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Hurts was sharp early on. He had a perfect fade pass to receiver A.J. Brown that was negated by offensive pass interference, but he rebounded on the Eagles’ next drive and hit tight end Dallas Goedert for 20 yards and receiver Jahan Dotson for 27 yards before the opening touchdown of the game.

He used his legs early, too, with two positive scrambles and a 9-yard draw play. Hurts scored the Eagles’ first touchdown on a Tush Push.

Hurts did have a few shaky moments in the first half, the most egregious when he threw a pass that was intercepted by Chiefs safety Bryan Cook at the 2-yard line. He also took a sack rather than throwing the ball away when outside the pocket on the last play of the first quarter.

Backup Kenny Pickett finished the blowout for Hurts.

The Chiefs sold out to stop Barkley. He gained just 57 yards on 25 carries (2.3 average), but Barkley still set the NFL record for rushing yards in a regular season and postseason combined, passing Terrell Davis’ previous mark of 2,476 yards set in 1998. His season will go down as one of the best ever for a running back.

Barkley had more room as a receiver in the game, catching six passes for 40 yards, including a 22-yard grab that he bobbled, but hung on to in the third quarter. He did well to pick up an overload blitz on Hurts’ long pass to Dotson.

Kenneth Gainwell spelled Barkley on occasion and finished with just 10 rushing yards on six carries. Fullback Khari Blasingame got an early snap as a lead blocker, but Barkley gained only 2 yards on the carry.

With the Chiefs concentrating on slowing the run game, the Eagles’ receivers and tight ends needed to be on point. And they were for the most part. Smith led the Eagles with four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

His 46-yard touchdown catch came when he beat Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson on a skinny post route. In the first quarter, Smith caught a third-down pass and muscled his way past the marker.

Brown caught 3 of 5 targets for 43 yards and a touchdown. He pulled in a back-shoulder 22-yard pass on third down in the second quarter. Later before the half, Brown caught a 12-yard touchdown on a crosser vs. zone coverage.

Brown was called for offensive pass interference after he caught a 32-yard pass on fourth down on the Eagles’ opening drive. Brown hit Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie in the face, but the penalty seemed on the softer side.

Goedert finished with two grabs for 27 yards. His first catch was for 20 yards when he found a soft spot in the second level of the Chiefs’ zone coverage in the first quarter.

Dotson caught a 27-yard pass down to the 1-yard line when he got behind Watson in the first quarter. He added a 15-yard grab when Hurts checked down to him later in the quarter. Receiver Johnny Wilson dropped a check-down pass in the first quarter, but he had some good blocks in the run game.

Tight ends Grant Calcaterra and EJ Jenkins did a lot of dirty work in run blocking. Calcaterra recovered the Chiefs’ last onside kick try.

With the Chiefs stacking the box to stop Barkley, it was tough sledding for the O-line in run blocking. But it mostly provided a nice pocket and protection for Hurts when he dropped. The Eagles failed to pick up a few of Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s blitzes, but there were other successes against extra rushers.

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Tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata were excellent vs. the Chiefs’ edge rushers, especially the dangerous George Karlaftis. He got to Hurts in the first quarter, but only because the ball wasn’t thrown away on a run-pass option play in which the quarterback kept.

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones didn’t wreck the game. He had his moments, but the Eagles slid protection to him on many of his inside rushes, with center Cam Jurgens helping his guards. Left guard Landon Dickerson played through a knee injury. He clearly wasn’t at his best and appeared to have some struggles. Dickerson was flagged for holding in the second quarter.

Jurgens soldiered through a back injury. Hurts’ first interception occurred when Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton blitzed through the “A” gap unblocked. Jurgens appeared to miss the assignment.

Right guard Mekhi Becton left early in the second quarter with a knee injury, but returned before the half. Tyler Steen jumped in for Becton temporarily and seemed to hold up.

The Eagles won this game in the trenches, but especially on the defensive side. Defensive end Josh Sweat had a monster game. He notched the game’s first sack when he came in unblocked in the second quarter. A play later, Sweat split a sack with rookie edge rusher Jalyx Hunt. He later walked left tackle Joe Thuney into Mahomes’ lap and the quarterback threw an interception to linebacker Zack Baun.

In the third quarter, he dropped Mahomes for a third time. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a beast, as well. He drew a holding penalty when Chiefs guard Trey Smith tackled him to the ground just before the half. Two plays later, he hurried Mahomes out of the pocket.

Defensive tackle Milton Williams strip-sacked Mahomes in the fourth quarter. He had two sacks. He got to Mahomes in the second quarter after Sweat forced Mahomes to hold the ball and scramble. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis got his second sack in as many games in the third quarter when he collapsed the pocket with a bull rush.

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith left in the second quarter and didn’t return. He did force Mahomes to throw incomplete on third down on the Chiefs’ second possession.

Defensive end Brandon Graham made a return just 2½ months after he tore a triceps muscle. The Eagles’ emotional leader didn’t play a lot, but he got held in the third quarter after a strong rush. Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo recorded a tackle for loss when he dropped Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco in the backfield on a second-quarter rush.

Defensive end Bryce Huff was inactive for the first time this season with Graham dressing.

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Baun and Oren Burks dropped into coverages that flummoxed Mahomes. They flowed to the ball and stopped ball carriers on the few times the Chiefs ran the ball. Baun’s second-quarter pick came when he pulled in a Mahomes errant throw just before it hit the turf. On the Chiefs’ first possession, he held a swing pass to just 1 yard.

Nakobe Dean might have not been able to play because of his season-ending knee injury, but he got to watch the game from the sidelines.

Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell blanketed Chiefs receivers on the outside all night. Mahomes hardly ever threw deep. The Eagles’ pass rush certainly helped in that regard, but there were sacks and hurries because the secondary made the quarterback hold the ball.

The Chiefs had a deep shot dialed up for Xavier Worthy in the first quarter, but Mitchell ran step for step with the speedster and Mahomes had to check down. He missed a tackle on a short swing pass to Worthy in the third quarter.

Cooper DeJean had quite the 22nd birthday. The rookie slot cornerback had a pick-6 in the second quarter when he dropped into zone coverage, read Mahomes’ eyes, and intercepted the quarterback. DeJean went 38 yards the other way for the touchdown. He limped off in the third quarter and was replaced by Avonte Maddox, who had a fourth-down pass breakup a few plays later.

DeJean returned for the next defensive series and trailed Worthy on a 50-yard completion.

Eagles safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Reed Blankenship handled the back end and kept Mahomes from going over the top. The former made it clear it was going to be a long night for the quarterback when he was all over receiver Hollywood Brown and nearly had an interception on a third-down heave on Kansas City’s first series.

Worthy caught a 24-yard touchdown in front of Gardner-Johnson on a third-quarter scramble drill. The safeties had three tackles apiece.

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The Eagles’ special teams units were on point for most of the game. Michael Clay’s groups didn’t allow Chiefs returners to break loose for extra yards. Kicker Jake Elliott redeemed himself after a tough season. He made all his kicks — four field goals and four extra points — and booted six touchbacks on nine kickoffs.

Elliott nailed a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter after long snapper Rick Lovato false-started by moving his head and moved the attempt back 5 yards. Lovato actually had another head bob that cost the Eagles 5 yards on a field-goal attempt, but Elliott still made the 29-yarder in the third quarter. He later added a 50-yarder and another 48-yarder.

Braden Mann averaged 45.5 net yards on two punts. He had a punt before the half that pinned the Chiefs at their own 9-yard line. DeJean averaged 9 yards on three punt returns. He had a nice 13-yard gain on his first punt return.

Head coach Nick Sirianni became the second Eagles coach to win a Super Bowl, joining Doug Pederson. Sirianni’s messages to his players rang true — that if they played tough and detailed football and stayed together they would be champions. The Eagles looked more prepared than Andy Reid’s Chiefs and Sirianni deserves the bulk of the credit. Sirianni’s decision-making was sharp, even if the blowout kept certain moments from being second-guessed.

He was aggressive early on, but passed up going for it on fourth-and-3 at the Chiefs’ 25 in the second quarter. Nevertheless, Elliott made the field goal to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore had a great game plan as the Eagles put a 40 burger on Kansas City. He didn’t get dismayed by the run-game struggles and stuck with Barkley knowing it would open things up for Hurts and the passing game.

He dialed up a zone beater on Brown’s crossing route that led to a 12-yard touchdown catch.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio delivered a masterclass with his game plan and play-calling, just like he had all season. The 66-year-old finally has a Super Bowl win after 38 NFL seasons. Fangio’s zones, especially Cover 4, had Mahomes seeing ghosts all game long. The Eagles’ four-man rush, meanwhile, punished the quarterback continuously. In the first half, the Eagles had a 47% pressure rate without blitzing once.

Fangio’s unit once again answered the bell after the Eagles’ lone turnover — Hurts’ interception — and forced a three-and-out.

And special recognition goes to Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who built one the best teams in franchise history, and to Jeffrey Lurie, who has his second Lombardi Trophy and is now among the upper echelon of NFL owners.