Putting Eagles' dominant D-line Super Bowl performance into perspective originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW ORLEANS — Entering Sunday, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had played 132 regular season and postseason games in the NFL.
He had never been sacked six times in a game.
But that’s how many times the Eagles’ dominant defensive line took him down in their 40-22 win in Super Bowl LIX at the Superdome.
“Man, that s— was crazy,” Jalen Carter said in the winning locker room. “We got like eight sacks today. I don’t know if that’s a record or anything but those boys turned up. They did they thing.”
It wasn’t quite eight sacks. And it wasn’t quite a record.
But it was still an incredibly dominant performance from the entire defensive line on Sunday in New Orleans.
If you think back to Super Bowl LVII on that slick surface in Phoenix, the Eagles had zero sacks that day. To face the same team and the same quarterback two years later and take him down six times is impressive.
“I didn’t expect anything else,” safety Reed Blankenship said. “They’ve been doing it all year. They don’t need no help. They’re demons up front.”
The Eagles are one of just eight teams all-time to have 6+ sacks in a Super Bowl; those eight teams are now 8-0.
What’s even more impressive about Sunday was that it was just the D-line getting after Mahomes on Sunday.
According to NFL NextGen Stats, Vic Fangio didn’t blitz a single time on 42 dropbacks in Super Bowl LIX. And the Eagles still sacked Mahomes six times and had 16 pressures. Mahomes was pressured on 38.1% of his dropbacks despite not seeing a blitz.
“That’s our pride,” said Josh Sweat, who led the team with 2 1/2 sacks. “Vic didn’t want to blitz. We knew if we had to blitz, we’d be in trouble. We put it on the four-man rush and we made it happen.”
Those 2 1/2 sacks for Sweat were a career-high and he also had 6 pressures on 34 pass rushes. While quarterback Jalen Hurts won the Super Bowl MVP, Sweat had to be on a short list of candidates.
Before Sunday, Sweat hadn’t had a sack in five games.
“They let me go crazy,” Sweat said. “I don’t think I ever got more than two in a game, so my biggest game, sack-wise. Bringing it home for the D-line. That’s what I wanted to do.”
Here’s how the Eagles’ sacks broke down in the Super Bowl: Sweat (2 1/2), Milton Williams (2), Jordan Davis (1), Jalyx Hunt (1/2). And beyond the sacks, Carter fought through double teams to have 2 QB hits. Nolan Smith also had 2 QB hits. Moro Ojomo had a TFL. And even Brandon Graham, in his return from a torn triceps, had some pressure.
The Eagles had more than six sacks just once all season; they had eight against the Giants in Week 7.
“Yeah, they played great,” Mahomes said. “There’s no way around it, they played great from start to finish. They got after it, defensive line played really well.”
Two of the Eagles best players from the Super Bowl LIX win — Sweat and Williams — are set to become free agents in March.
They didn’t get easier to sign after this game.
“It’s crazy. I ain’t going to lie,” Sweat said. “The timing couldn’t have been better. But I can’t even think about that yet. I still got time with these guys and that’s all I want.”
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