What Happened to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX

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Good Morning Chiefs Kingdom,

Today we take another look at how the blowout loss to the Eagles happened in Super Bowl LIX.

Go Chiefs!

— Luke Gromer

Chiefs News

Super Bowl LIX

#1: The Eagles Won The Key Moments

When I (Luke) watch the games, I keep notes on each drive and track what I consider key plays. These are typically the make-or-break plays in a drive. For example, 2nd/3rd and long, turnovers, and scoring plays are the typical key plays on drives.

I charted 24 key plays from the 1st quarter through the Eagles TD with 2:40 left in the 3rd quarter to go up 34-0.

Of those 24 key plays, the Eagles had positive outcomes on 20 of those plays.

#2: It’s a Numbers Game

Football, like most sports, is a numbers game. It’s all about manipulating your opponent to create a numerical advantage in space.

The Eagles blitzed the Chiefs zero times on 42 dropbacks yet had 26 pressures.

Here’s what that means:

• The Eagles had 7 defenders in coverage on every pass

• The Chiefs had 5 offensive linemen blocking, 1 QB with the ball, and often another TE or RB helping block

• The Chiefs only had 3-5 receivers running routes against the Eagles 7 defenders all night

When you combine the numerical advantage with the lack of time Mahomes had to find an open receiver, you get the offensive performance we witnessed in Super Bowl LIX.

#3: The Band-Aid Got Ripped Off

The Chiefs had a glaring problem from the second week of the season: Left Tackle.

The hope after Week 1 was that rookie Kingsley Suamataia would be a solid LT, but he was far from that. Backup LT Wanya Morris was then given a chance to claim the position, and he struggled mightily.

The Chiefs turned to their All-Pro LG Joe Thuney as the answer at LT. Thuney was good down the stretch of the regular season, in the Divisional Round, and Conference Championship.

In the Super Bowl, Thuney was exposed as a LG playing LT.

The band-aid fix was ripped off, and the offensive line was dominated. Thuney was bad at LT, and Mike Caliendo, Thuney’s replacement at LG, was exposed as well.

For a deep dive on every sack the Eagles had on Mahomes, take a look at the thread below from Bill Barnwell of ESPN. Bill’s breakdown makes it pretty obvious just how badly the Chiefs offensive line got beat.

Yesterday we asked our readers…

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Mahomes' pick-six midway through the 2nd quarter to put the Eagles up 17-0

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Mahomes' interception with 1:49 left in the second quarter that led to a 24-0 Eagles lead

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Hopkins drop on the Chiefs’ last drive before the half

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ The offense punting on the opening drive of the second half down 24-0

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Other (comment your answer)

• An estimated 126M Americans tuned into the Super Bowl

• The Chiefs and Ravens opened as co-favorites to win Super Bowl LX

• The Cowboys are hiring former Bills and Browns OC Ken Dorsey as their pass-game specialist

• The Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX parade will be held this Friday

• The Jets are not expected to bring back QB Aaron Rodgers in 2025

• A performer during the halftime show was detained but will not face charges for waving a Palestine flag with “Sudan” and “Gaza” on it

Chiefs, NFL, and More

Worth the Click

• 🏆 Take a look at who has the most Super Bowls in NFL history by position

• 👏 Travis Kelce surpassed Jerry Rice for most receptions in Super Bowl history

• 🤔 These way-too-early 2025 NFL Power Rankings are pretty interesting

• ❤️ The story of the mink coat DeAndre Hopkins wore to the Super Bowl is heartwarming

• 📺 Travis Kelce answered questions about what went wrong in the Super Bowl after the game

• 👀 Maybe being a high draft pick isn’t as important as we think it is

• 🗣 Mahomes shared the message below on social media after the Super Bowl LIX loss 👇

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