Super Bowl LIX: Donald Trump’s feud with Philadelphia Eagles back in spotlight after big win over Kansas City

Kansas City’s dream of a historic threepeat turned into a New Orleans nightmare in Super Bowl LIX, as the smothering defence of Philadelphia resulted in a 40-22 drubbing, and revenge for a Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs two years ago.

Instead, the only history that was made was former rugby league player Jordan Mailata becoming the first Aussie to win a Super Bowl, as the cornerstone left tackle of an excellent Eagles offensive line.

Taylor Swift and US President Donald Trump were in attendance at the NFL decider, but even the collective power of their support was not enough to motivate a lifeless Chiefs team that slumped to 24-0 at halftime.

The Chiefs were helpless to stop Philly’s “tush push” to open the scoring, but it was the Kansas City offensive line that were really pushed around, with left tackle a huge problem from the get-go.

Trump, who predicted a Chiefs win before kickoff, was spotted boarding Air Force One an hour before the final whistle, and Swifties hoping for a post-win proposal from Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce were also disappointed.

Swift, like Kelce, will leave the Big Easy without a ring.

The win also sets up a fascinating situation with Trump, who has made no secret of his grudge against the Eagles, after the Super Bowl team of 2018 planned to snub the traditional White House winners’ visit, prompting then-President Trump to proactively uninvite them.

Rumours are already swirling that history will repeat, but, right now, Philadelphia is focused on celebrating the achievement of bringing another Lombardi Trophy to the City of Brotherly Love.

To give you an idea of just how dominant Philadelphia was in the first stanza, the Eagles had more points than the Chiefs offence had total yards.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was eventually named Super Bowl MVP – a deserving winner with 221 passing yards, 72 rushing yards and three total touchdowns – but you could make the case the most valuable contribution came from Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman.

Not only did Roseman hit on rookie Cooper DeJean (who had a huge pick six in the first half), the addition of linebacker Zack Baun in free agency was rewarded with a second interception of Mahomes that directly led to an AJ Brown score on the next play, all but ending the game before the long break.

Replacing both coordinators in the offseason (Kellen Moore on offence and Vic Fangio on defence) paid dividends, too.

And, even though Roseman’s signing of running back Saquon Barkely didn’t produce the fireworks in the Super Bowl that we’ve seen this season from the league’s rushing champ, it was clear the Chiefs’ attempts to slow down the RB created big play opportunities for Hurts in the passing game.

Like the long TD throw to DeVonta Smith in the second half, to extend Philly’s lead to 34-0.

At that point, with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mahomes had almost taken as many sacks (five) as pass completions (nine).

This finally seemed to wake the Chiefs offence from its slumber, as Kansas City marched down the field courtesy of a couple of chunk plays, which culminated in a consolation TD to rookie wideout Xavier Worthy.

Up in the commentary box, former Patriots and Buccaneers QB Tom Brady may have been reminded of his legendary Super Bowl comeback in 2017, when he led New England back from a 21-3 halftime deficit.

But there was to be no such heroics this time, with the Eagles not making the mistake of that Falcons offence under Kyle Shanahan, going into its shell when you need to keep the metaphorical foot on your opponent’s throat.

Any chance of a comeback was snuffed out when Mahomes was strip-sacked in the final quarter, leading to yet another Jake Elliott field goal to keep the scoreboard ticking along to the tune of a 40-6 lead.

Points scored by the Chiefs in garbage time meant so little, Philadelphia replaced its starting QB with backup Kenny Pickett, and gave head coach Nick Siriani the customary victors’ Gatorade bath, with nearly three minutes left in the game.

Brady was also under centre for the Patriots when the Eagles beat New England to win its maiden Super Bowl in 2018, courtesy of the trick play that has since become known as the “Philly Special”.

Ask any Philly fan and they’ll tell you nothing could be more special than watching their beloved Iggles crush the Chiefs, the greatest team of the past decade.