Spagnuolo’s Super Bowl wizardry wilts as the Chiefs’ defense gets sliced up by the Eagles

By Canadian Press on February 9, 2025.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had the worst season of his mostly distinguished career when he spent Sundays on the New Orleans Saints’ sideline in the Superdome.

It was a house of horrors for him again in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, who racked up 345 yards of offense in a 40-22 rout on Sunday night.

Spags, as he is often called, entered this Super Bowl as one of the more talked about — and celebrated — figures in the game.

He’d interviewed recently for head coaching jobs with the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders.

With victories as a coordinator in four previous Super Bowls, Spagnuolo was seen as a master of deploying exotic blitzes to neutralize what opposing offenses do best. It worked against Houston QB CJ Stroud in the divisional round and Buffalo QB Josh Allen in the AFC championship game.

But while the Chiefs largely contained Eagles record-setting running back Saquon Barkley, holding him to 57 yards, Philadelphia found plenty of other ways to move the ball and score.

Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones was a non-factor, as was the entire Kansas City pass rush. They failed to get to Jalen Hurts, whose 221 yards and two TDs passing included a 46-yard scoring strike deep down the middle to DeVonta Smith.

Hurts also rushed for 72 yards, and KC’s defensive front was no match for Philadelphia’s “tush push” on goal to go from the 1, which gave the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.

The night was reminiscent of Spagnuolo’s lone season with New Orleans in 2012, when the 7,042 yards yielded by the Saints set an enduring NFL record the for most yards allowed in a season.

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Brett Martel, The Associated Press