More MMQB: Patrick Mahomes Got Help From Chiefs Trainers and Teammates to Win His Second Career Super Bowl
It’s disappointing that the 2022 Eagles will be remembered for the flag that was thrown on the play where their shot at a world title went away.Because that Philly team was talented, balanced, well-coached, well-constructed—it had just about everything, including a quarterback who could go blow for blow with Patrick Mahomes.
Jalen Hurts was absolutely spectacular. So it’s a shame this Super Bowl won’t be remembered in Philadelphia for the 304 passing yards he had in completing 27 of 38 throws, or the 70 rushing yards he churned out, or how he accounted for all four of Philly’s touchdowns—three on the ground—or the Houdini acts he pulled on a third-and-8 throw to Zach Pascal for nine yards and a third-and-6 to Dallas Goedert for 17 yards, or the absolute dime he delivered to Goedert for 17 yards on third-and-14.
It’s unfortunate, in the end, that this one will be remembered for what might’ve been for the Eagles, had the NFL’s alleged all-star crew kept the flags in their pockets at the end.
If you’re in Philly, you’ve got the situation burned in your brain by now. Third-and-8. Ball at the Eagles’ 15. Chiefs driving. Eagles with one timeout left and 1:54 showing. If the Chiefs had scored, the Eagles would’ve gotten the ball back, down 42–35, with nearly two minutes left. If Kansas City could get the first down but score, the game would be pretty much over. If the Eagles could get a stop, they’d likely be down just three with the ball coming back and plenty of time for a game-winning drive.
So the final result—the holding flag coming out on James Bradberry, giving Kansas City the first down short of the goal line—was about the worst-case scenario. And after the Eagles then called their last timeout, Jerick McKinnon slid down at the two-yard line on first down, Mahomes took two knees and Harrison Butker drilled a 27-yard go-head field goal, giving the Chiefs a 38–35 lead over the Eagles with just 11 seconds left. Which meant the game was effectively over.
Was the flag correct? James Bradberry said afterward it was, and that he’d hoped they wouldn’t call it, and referee Carl Cheffers told pool reporter Lindsay Jones of that there was no debate between the officials on the veracity of the call. “It was a clear case of a jersey grab that caused restriction,” Cheffers said. After I looked at it, I could see where Bradberry did tug Juju Smith-Schuster as he came out of his break (there was a second instance that looked like a tug at first blush, but didn’t seem to be one with the video slowed down).
Which, to be honest, leaves me torn. The grab wasn’t egregious, and, had it not been called, I can’t imagine there’d be an uproar over the noncall. To me, that makes it a keep-the-flag-in-your-pocket play, with this one essentially ending the biggest game of the year.
Anyway, the Eagles and their fans have seven months to stew over that one. And if there was anything appropriate about the whole thing? It was definitely that—after the season the NFL just had, and the things commissioner Roger Goodell said about the officiating Wednesday (“I don’t think it’s ever been better”)—the season ended on the kind of flag that’ll have the debate shows roaring all week.
That, of course, is the bed the league made for itself.
Because Hurts was a second-round pick, there’s no fifth-year option and no resulting cushion for Philly to lean on should the Eagles and Hurts struggle to find common ground on a new contract. That means there’s more pressure on the team to do something and avoid turning this into a Kirk Cousins or Dak Prescott situation (where non-first-round QBs played on franchise tags).
One thing we know is Howie Roseman’s Eagles will be creative in trying to find a solution to this “problem” (it’s a caviar problem, for sure), and that’ll probably mean looking at a few models for negotiating a quarterback deal. Are the Eagles comfortable that Hurts’s game is sustainable enough for the team to seek a Mahomes-type of structure? Or are they good with giving him a shorter-term deal that’d carry an average per year around what Russell Wilson ($49 million) and Kyler Murray ($46.1 million) got last year?
These are open questions, for now. Here are three more Philly faces this offseason …
One thing the Eagles have that’s unique is two 10-plus-year linemen on each side of the ball. Nick Sirianni has said those four (Kelce, Cox, Graham and Lane Johnson) are the foundation of the team. Three are free agents, and cap space figures to be tighter. I’m sure all four would be welcomed back. The question is whether the Eagles can make it work and who in the group may mull over retirement.
This is another area where there’s potential instability, with James Bradberry, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps (three of the four DBs to play more than 90% of the snaps in the NFC title game) among the guys at those spots set to hit free agency. Also, the Eagles haven’t used a top-100 pick on a defensive back in six years. So this could be a year when you see some of Roseman’s aggression directed toward the secondary.
There’s a good chance the Eagles will lose both coordinators this week (we’ll get to that). Both Johnson and Patullo would be in play to replace Shane Steichen as offensive coordinator, but Johnson’s likely going to have options elsewhere, as well. And on defense, my sense is Vic Fangio would have been the top choice to replace Jonathan Gannon, but he’s already agreed to terms with the Dolphins. So there definitely will be some level of shakeup in a staff that’s been an organizational strength since Sirianni arrived two years ago.
