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Anatomy of a Super Bowl Blowout: Where the Chiefs and Eagles Go from Here and Super Bowl 60 Odds

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar11/02/2025 - 12:08 pm
(Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The NFL had a historic matchup set for Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. In the end, we got a Super Bowl blowout of epic proportions with the Eagles leading 34-0 in the third quarter before winning 40-22, ending Kansas City’s three-peat attempt.

If you were a neutral observer, the game was a huge letdown. If you’re a football purist, the game confirmed things known for decades: Defense wins championships and football games are decided in the trenches.

  • Forget about acquiring veteran wide receivers as Patrick Mahomes completed 4-of-11 passes for 33 yards to DeAndre Hopkins and Hollywood Brown, who were non-factors again.
  • Forget about Andy Reid’s offensive creativity as he called 12 passes to one run to start the game as the Chiefs fell behind 17-0 to the No. 1 pass defense, who never bothered to blitz and still took down Mahomes for a career-high 6.0 sacks.
  • Forget about Saquon Barkley, who had one of the worst games of his career as the Chiefs stuffed him for 57 yards on 25 carries – the only thing they did well.

There’s a reason the NFL positions that traditionally have received the most resources after quarterback are pass rushers (emphasis on the edges) and left tackles. Get after the quarterback and find someone who can protect the quarterback’s blind side. That’s football in a nutshell.

The Eagles continue to build Super Bowl rosters – GM Howie Roseman has done it three times since 2017 – that start in the trenches. Even after Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox retired, the Eagles had the pieces in place to compete at the highest level this year, and their +228 scoring differential (playoffs included) was the highest by a Super Bowl champion since the 2016 Patriots.

With such a young and talented roster in an NFC that is not the deepest, the Eagles have opened as favorites to win Super Bowl LX (+600 at FanDuel) next year in San Francisco. The Chiefs (+650) are right behind them, but if there is going to be a Super Bowl rematch, the Chiefs better fix their lines if they don’t want a repeat of Sunday night in New Orleans.

Let’s look at where things quickly fell apart for the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, what they need to do this offseason, and the early look at Super Bowl LX odds.

Anatomy of a Super Bowl Blowout

For many years, Super Bowl Sunday rarely produced a great, competitive game. That changed at the turn of the century, and 19 of the previous 21 Super Bowls before Sunday night were within one score in the fourth quarter.

But one of those blowouts was the 2020 Chiefs losing 31-9 in Tampa Bay. The other was the 2013 Broncos, the only Super Bowl team to go a whole postseason without forcing a turnover, getting rocked 43-8 by the Seahawks and their historic defense. The only thing Denver did well that night was shut down running back Marshawn Lynch.

Both of those Super Bowl blowouts laid out a blueprint for what happened to the Chiefs in New Orleans against the Eagles. Sometimes, all it takes is a couple of quick edge pressures to throw a legendary quarterback off his game, and things start to avalanche for a team that just doesn’t have the dogs on defense to do the same on the other side of the ball.

We warned in our Super Bowl preview about this happening to the Chiefs:

“Reshuffling the offensive line in a Super Bowl should trigger PTSD in Chiefs fans after Super Bowl LV, but it is a major story to watch here.”

As it turned out, trying to play Joe Thuney, a guard, at left tackle while moving Frank Caliendo, the weak link, to his spot was a disaster against a Philadelphia front that got great pressure with a 4-man rush. The Eagles did not blitz once in the game and still sacked Mahomes 6 times, the first time in 133 games that’s happened to him.

But the Chiefs have made wild comebacks before. Mahomes had only lost four starts by double digits in his career, but this game would produce his largest deficit ever at 34 points as the Eagles jumped up 34-0.

It all happened rather quickly too. The first quarter was a great preview of things to come. On the first third down of the game, Mahomes was pressured, held the ball a long time to try creating something, and he almost threw an interception. On the next drive, quick edge pressure again affected his throw, and the Chiefs had to punt.

(Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

They already had him trying to speed things up by getting in his head about the rush. On the third drive, Mahomes’ pass to Travis Kelce on third down was low and wide and the Chiefs again went three-and-out. That likely doesn’t happen without the early pressures.

By the fourth drive, the floodgates opened up. Mahomes was devoured on back-to-back sacks as Kelce whiffed on his block and the Chiefs couldn’t even stop two Eagles from sacking Mahomes despite having seven blockers to block four rushers. On 3rd-and-16 following the sacks, Mahomes tried to roll out and forced a poor throw that was returned for a touchdown by rookie corner Cooper DeJean.

The Eagles led 17-0, and the Chiefs had called one run at that point. Where were the Andy Reid screens we always hear about? Where were the RPOs that worked so well against Buffalo last time out? Why isn’t Mahomes using his legs more?

After Reid called consecutive runs, all that did was set up 3rd-and-9 where Mahomes took his third sack for another three-and-out. At that point, how does Reid not make a switch that we talked about in our preview? Put Thuney back at left guard where he’s a Pro Bowler, and put veteran left tackle D.J. Humphries in the game.

But the Chiefs never did that all night, and they paid for it dearly with 1:49 left in the half. Thuney was pushed back by Josh Sweat right into Mahomes, and it led to an interception that set up the Eagles for a 14-yard touchdown drive and 24-0 lead.

Even when Mahomes had some time on a 3rd-and-11 throw on the next drive, DeAndre Hopkins dropped the ball with a wide-open field ahead of him. The Chiefs produced 23 yards in the first half, and their only first down was the first snap of the night.

It was a complete domination by the Eagles, and you can pinpoint that 5-play sequence in the second quarter where Mahomes suffered three sacks and two interceptions as blowing this game open for Philadelphia.

It’s not like things got better in the third quarter. Mahomes again took back-to-back sacks before scrambling on a 3rd-and-17 that came up short. On the next drive, calling a run on 2nd-and-14 for a 1-yard gain after a Mahomes scramble was called back for holding on Jawaan Taylor (nothing new there) only set up 3rd-and-13. The Chiefs lost the early-down battle all night long. On a 4th-and-4, Mahomes went back to Hopkins for some reason, missing an open Justin Watson over the middle.

One play later, Jalen Hurts hit DeVonta Smith for a 47-yard touchdown and the rout was really on at 34-0. There have been blowouts in the Super Bowl before, but 34-0 is beyond the pale. At least the Chiefs chipped in some touchdowns to avoid a shutout, but even a 40-22 final is misleading for how close this game wasn’t.

For the second time in five Super Bowls, the Chiefs looked completely unprepared to handle a defensive front that just beat them with standard four-man rushes and two-high safety or zone defense. Nothing that fancy. Just made the line look like turnstiles.

The Eagles never destroyed anyone this bad this season. Even the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys kept it closer for 28 minutes (twice) than the Chiefs did here. This loss was so shocking, and yet at the same time, it makes sense if you simply can’t block a four-man rush.

But it was such a devastating end that this loss should strip the Chiefs of the benefit of doubt in big games going forward. Maybe they still own their AFC rivals from Baltimore and Buffalo, but their consistent struggles with these elite NFC defenses in the Super Bowl cannot be ignored any longer.

They have to find a way to do better, because this shouldn’t be the last time we see this team in a Super Bowl. It is, however, probably the last time they ever had a shot at a three-peat. That’s history.

But if the Chiefs don’t want to see the Eagles go on their own three-peat run, they may need to take a few lessons from the Eagles and stabilize the trenches.

Where the Chiefs Go from Here

Kansas City’s dynasty is not over, but this phase of it should be. Just like how the team changed after 2021 and the Tyreek Hill trade, this team should look different in 2025. They’ll have some decisions to make on free agents, and they’ll have to get word from what Travis Kelce wants to do next.

But the top priority has to be getting stronger in the trenches, and the main focus should be finding a franchise left tackle for Mahomes. It might be cute to say you’ve started five Super Bowls with five different left tackles, but it’s not an ideal situation. They need to find someone like they had in Eric Fisher at the beginning of this run. He wasn’t dominant or flashy, but he got the job done.

One of the surprising things about dynasties and left tackles is that none of them were Hall of Fame players in the Super Bowl era.

We’re about to list 10 names of left tackles who started for every dynasty since the 1950s, and only one of them (Cleveland’s Lou Groza) actually made the Hall of Fame. That just goes to show you don’t need dominant play at that position, but you definitely need someone reliable and consistent, which these players were for the most part.

  • Cleveland: Hall of Famer Lou Groza was there for the start with the Browns in 1946 in the AAFC before coming over as their left tackle for the 1950s’ run of six straight championship games. He stayed with the team through 1967 after converting to kicker in 1961.
  • Green Bay: Bob Skoronski joined the Packers in 1956 and started almost every game at left tackle for the team during their 1960s’ dynasty run, including all five championship games during the 1961-67 seasons.
  • Pittsburgh: Jon Kolb started 138 games at left tackle for the Steelers in 1971-81, covering the entire dynasty run (four Super Bowls) and then some.
  • San Francisco: Dan Audick was the starting left tackle for the first 49ers’ Super Bowl run in 1981 before the team drafted Bubba Paris in the second round in a strike-shortened 1982. Paris took over in 1983 and started most of the team’s games through 1990, alternating between starter and backup with Steve Wallace for the 1988 Super Bowl season.
  • Dallas: Mark Tuinei joined the Cowboys in 1983 as a defensive tackle before converting to offensive tackle. He became a full-time starter in 1989, Troy Aikman’s rookie year, and he kept that job through the 1997 season before retiring as a 3-time Super Bowl champion.
  • New England: Matt Light started 153 games for the Patriots in the 2001-11 regular seasons as well as all 15 playoff starts during the team’s five Super Bowl runs in that time. Nate Solder took over at left tackle for 2012-17 (three more Super Bowl starts), then Trent Brown was acquired via trade for the 2018 Super Bowl run to end the dynasty.

When you look at the Chiefs, Eric Fisher was their No. 1 overall pick in 2013, and he was there for the beginning of the Mahomes era in 2018-20. He returned from injury in 2019 in time for the first Super Bowl run. But in 2020, he was injured in the AFC Championship Game against Buffalo, creating a messy situation in Super Bowl 55 where the Chiefs moved multiple players around and started Mike Remmers at left tackle, creating a blowout loss.

In 2022, the Chiefs had Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle, and they held up well against a Philadelphia defense that had 70 sacks that year. Some will blame a slippery field for that, but both teams had to play on it.

But they didn’t want to pay Brown top dollar, so they went with veteran Donovan Smith in 2023. He held his own, and the Chiefs were able to repeat against a good San Francisco defense.

But Smith was gone too for 2024. The Chiefs used the 63rd pick in the second round to draft tackle Kingsley Suamataia. He started Week 1 and was soon benched for poor play. Wanya Morris tried to take over, but Mahomes kept getting hit with him in there too. They signed veteran D.J. Humphries, who made his season debut, but he was injured. Eventually, they just slid guard Joe Thuney over to left tackle and let it go as it was working well enough even if it did hurt the run blocking.

That parlor trick didn’t fool the Eagles, however. They abused Thuney in the game as Sweat had 2.5 sacks and the key pressure that led to Mahomes’ second pick deep in their own end.

Notice it was the two years that Reid shuffled his linemen out of position that ended poorly in blowout losses. In 2020, Mahomes was pressured 29 times and the Chiefs lost 31-9 without scoring a touchdown.

But even that game wasn’t as bad as Sunday night since Mahomes actually got most of his passes off in Tampa (3 sacks). He didn’t turn the ball over until the Chiefs trailed by 19 points in the third quarter. This was far more devastating pressure in New Orleans by the Eagles, and again, they didn’t have to blitz once to do it.

Most teams would feel great about getting to the Super Bowl with four left tackles and playing your left guard at that key position. But the Chiefs showed what that could produce if you’re going up against the most stout defense.

We said in our preview that it was critical for the Eagles to force Mahomes to hold the ball. They did that by taking away the quick passes. Mahomes’ average time to throw was 3.07 seconds. He is now 19-16 (.543) when holding the ball for over 3.0 seconds in his career. Compare that to 45-2 when he’s under 2.8 seconds.

But for the 16 pressures the Eagles registered, with most of those coming as they built their 34-0 lead, Mahomes’ average time to throw on those pressures was 4.36 seconds, his 12th-longest time in a game according to Next Gen Stats. He was at 4.64 seconds in Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, so mission accomplished for Vic Fangio’s defense.

Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts had a very clean game as Super Bowl MVP for the Eagles. His average time to throw was 3.37 seconds, and that number was the same when he was pressured and the same when he wasn’t, which spells bad news for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Spags knew he couldn’t get pressure without blitzing, and outside of one interception early in the game, his blitzes were picked up and didn’t work.

Even though the Chiefs sold out to stop the run, holding Saquon Barkley to an embarrassing rushing average, it just goes to show how little that matters when you’re getting picked apart through the air and by a quarterback’s legs as Hurts led the game in rushing with 72 yards.

The Chiefs certainly have some dogs up front with Chris Jones, a future Hall of Famer, and George Karlaftis. But the latter was held in check by right tackle Lane Johnson, and Jones was shown more getting his neck massaged on the sideline than anything he did on the field.

The Chiefs could use some more help up front the way the Eagles have done so with recent draft picks in Milton Williams, Jordan Davis, Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, and even rookie Jalyx Hunt had a big impact Sunday night.

Just from the first quarter you could see the impending doom for the Chiefs when you can’t block a 4-man rush, and you can’t get any pressure unless you send blitzes. That’s not championship football. That’s not even good enough to win a 1:00 p.m. Sunday game in Week 4 called by the CBS D team.

But that’s how the Chiefs played Sunday night, and it’s a real headscratcher how Reid didn’t even try to change it up with Thuney moving back to guard. What did you have to lose at that point? Now it goes down as one of the most embarrassing Super Bowl losses of all time.

The Chiefs have done this twice now, and while you can chalk 2020 up to an unfortunate fluke with the timing of the Fisher injury, this one was more avoidable. But if the Chiefs are going to avoid this happening for a third time, they better find a legitimate left tackle who can be there for the next decade to protect Mahomes’ blind side.

Again, you don’t need Anthony Munoz or Orlando Pace to win big. The Eagles have been starting Jordan Mailata, a 2018 seventh-round pick and former rugby player from Australia, and they get along just fine with him.

(Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Maybe the Eagles were just too good this year, and it wouldn’t have mattered if the Chiefs started Humphries, went back to Morris, or gave Donovan Smith a call in December. But one thing we can no longer do is give the Chiefs the benefit of the doubt that they’ll be okay in a big game with offensive linemen playing out of position.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Super Bowl LX Odds and Early 2025 NFL Season Questions

Here are the early odds from FanDuel for each team’s chance to win Super Bowl LX in the 2025 season:

  • Philadelphia Eagles +600
  • Kansas City Chiefs +650
  • Baltimore Ravens +650
  • Buffalo Bills +750
  • Detroit Lions +1000
  • San Francisco 49ers +1500
  • Cincinnati Bengals +1800
  • Green Bay Packers +2000
  • Washington Commanders +2400
  • Los Angeles Rams +2800
  • Houston Texans +2900
  • Los Angeles Chargers +3000
  • Minnesota Vikings +3100
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3500
  • Chicago Bears +4000
  • Miami Dolphins +4200
  • Denver Broncos +4800
  • Arizona Cardinals +5000
  • Seattle Seahawks +5000
  • Dallas Cowboys +5500
  • Atlanta Falcons +5500
  • Pittsburgh Steelers +6500
  • Indianapolis Colts +7000
  • Jacksonville Jaguars +7500
  • New Orleans Saints +12000
  • New York Jets +12000
  • Cleveland Browns +14000
  • Carolina Panthers +14000
  • New England Patriots +14000
  • Las Vegas Raiders +19000
  • Tennessee Titans +20000
  • New York Giants +21000

We have a long way to go with the free agency period and NFL draft to come, and there’s not a story nearly as engaging as the Kansas City three-peat was a year ago. But you have to give the Eagles and Chiefs a better shot than most teams in the past to have a rematch, something that’s only been done once between the Bills and Cowboys in 1992-93.

But sure, the idea of a third Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl since 2022 is a bit much. I get it. That’s why it will be up to these other teams to make the moves that can get them to dethrone these teams.

Here are some of the top storylines to keep an eye on for the 2025 season:

  • Who lands Myles Garrett, the Cleveland pass rusher who is demanding a trade? Watch out for Buffalo making a power move, and a team like Washington with the young quarterback in place should be inquiring as well.
  • Washington (+2400) looks like one of the best value picks here if Jayden Daniels can take an even bigger MVP-caliber leap in Year 2, and he could be the only person who prevents the Eagles from ending the NFC East’s 20-year drought without a repeat champion.
  • Seriously, no one has won the NFC East in consecutive years since the 2001-04 Eagles, so that’s something the Eagles have to do if they want to give the repeat a real shot.
  • Where does Aaron Rodgers end up with the Jets likely to move on, and does he take Davante Adams with him?
  • Will the Bengals retain No. 2 wide receiver Tee Higgins, or does he land with a contender?
  • Does Tennessee trade the No. 1 pick in a draft that doesn’t look great at quarterback?
  • Will this Super Bowl outcome lead to a record number of offensive and defensive linemen drafted in the first round given it doesn’t look that stacked at the skill players like 2024 was?
  • Will the Detroit Lions miss their coordinators after Ben Johnson (Bears) and Aaron Glenn (Jets) took head coaching jobs?
  • After going 0-3 in the playoffs, will the NFC North regress after producing three 11-win teams? The NFC North will play the tougher AFC North and NFC East in 2025.
  • What happens to Sam Darnold after the Vikings get J.J. McCarthy back?
  • Does anyone make a move for Kirk Cousins with the Falcons going with Michael Penix Jr.? The Raiders might be interested.
  • Could wide receiver Tyreek Hill be on the move after hinting at a trade out of Miami?
  • Does Travis Kelce retire?
  • Do the Steelers keep Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, both, or neither?

Also, the Chiefs will host the Eagles during the regular season, so they will extend their record to meeting for the fifth year in a row as non-conference rivals. That game will almost certainly be scheduled for prime time, and we’ll see if the Chiefs can measure up better after a shocking Super Bowl result that should lead to big changes in Kansas City.

We have all offseason to cover these topics and more, so stay tuned for periodic updates on the biggest NFL news and moves as well as some statistical research. It’s almost seven months before another meaningful NFL game, so take a breath and relax.

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar11/02/2025 - 12:08 pm