NEW ORLEANS — It was just two years ago that the Philadelphia Eagles were last in the Super Bowl.
That experience in a 38-35 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was helpful to the many players who will face the Chiefs again in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
But the differences between that Eagles team and this Eagles team are greater than they might appear from the outside.
“Every team is different,” Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts said Thursday. “Every season requires a different version of each individual player. We’ve got a ton of different players on our team. We’ve got a lot of young players starting and playing pivotal roles. You just have to navigate that and find your way as a team for that year.”
The Eagles have navigated this season quite well, especially after a 2-2 start, winning 15 of their last 16 games.
“We’ve been able to play disciplined ball,” Hurts said. “We’ve been able to play ball and be on the same page and find ways to win.”
Philadelphia’s offensive identity has evolved since the team’s last Super Bowl with the addition of running back Saquon Barkley, who debuted with a 2,000-yard rushing season in 2024. The effectiveness of the running game helped Hurts finish fifth in the NFL with a career-best passer rating of 103.7.
“He’s a great passer and reads the defense great,” head coach Nick Sirianni said of Hurts. “And then he has this ability that, when something breaks down, to make big plays happen that way as well. He just knows how to win.”
Sirianni was asked about key Eagles that weren’t on the last Super Bowl team, such as first-year free-agent acquisitions in Barkley (Giants) and linebacker Zach Baun (Saints), as well as two rookie draft choices starting in the secondary — cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (first-round pick from Toledo) and nickelback Cooper DeJean (second-rounder from Iowa).
The coach explained that the term “big game” is relative.
“You tell Cooper DeJean that the Iowa-Iowa State game is not a big game,” Sirianni said. “Maybe to the outside world it’s not as big as the Super Bowl, but in that moment for Cooper it is. It’s what the player feels in his heart at that particular moment.”
Toledo’s biggest rival didn’t come to Sirianni as easily as Iowa’s did, but he finally came up with Kent State and Akron as examples.
“So these guys have big-game experience,” Sirianni said. “They’re not rookies anymore. They’ve played in so many games and have so many big-game experiences. I know how much these guys put in and how they empty the tank every time they go out and play.”
Hurts said this version of the Eagles has benefited from the closeness of a half dozen defensive players that were college teammates at Georgia. Defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, edge rusher Nolan Smith Jr. and linebacker Nakobe Dean are all starters, though Dean suffered a season-ending knee injury in the wild-card playoff victory against the Packers.
Reserve defensive backs Kelee Ringo and Lewis Cine are also former Bulldogs. Davis, Dean and Cine are in their third seasons and Carter, Smith and Ringo are in their second seasons, entering their first Super Bowl with Philadelphia.
Georgia won back-to-back CFP championships in 2021-22.
“I think a big part of (the team’s closeness) has to do with the Georgia background on defense,” Hurts said. “I think that starts with Nakobe Dean and all those guys that were able to play ball in college together and bring their ways to the league. I think that has a big impact on our culture. On defense, how they play, how together they are, and I think that kind of seeps through the team.”
–Les East, Field Level Media
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