Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had never beat Patrick Mahomes. He was 0-8 against Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
He obviously learned something through all of those losses.
Fangio’s defense and how it destroyed Mahomes was the story of the first half of Super Bowl LIX, with the Eagles taking a 24-0 lead into the locker room. They harassed Mahomes, shut down everyone else and then took a huge lead with a massive defensive play. Eagles rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean picked off Mahomes on a bad decision to pass it over the middle after he’d been sacked two straight times. DeJean returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.
At that point the Eagles led 17-0. And the Eagles defense alone led the Chiefs offense 7-0. The Chiefs didn’t have a great offense in the regular season, but it’s rare to see them get completely dominated. They were getting dominated early in the Super Bowl by a very good Philadelphia defense. It got even worse when linebacker Zack Baun intercepted Mahomes at Kansas City’s 14-yard line with 1:45 left in the half. That led to an A.J. Brown touchdown. The implosion of the Chiefs, especially on offense, was stunning.
The Eagles had experienced something similar to Sunday’s first half two years ago. They led 24-14 at halftime of Super Bowl LVII, with Mahomes limping off the field late in the second quarter due to a bad ankle injury. It looked like the Eagles were going to take that game. The Chiefs came back to win. So nothing was decided at halftime.
But the Eagles defense had just played one of the greatest halves ever seen in a Super Bowl.
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