The Philadelphia Eagles have done something that the Buffalo Bills haven’t been able to do, and that is defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason. Just two weeks ago, the Bills allowed Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to do whatever they wanted in the AFC championship. Mahomes and the offense couldn’t be stopped by Buffalo’s defense. However, Kansas City’s offense was very much humbled against the Eagles.
Coming into this Super Bowl matchup, the biggest headline for the Eagles was what Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley would be able to do. Barkley rushed for over 2,000 yards and Hurts has been able to deliver in both the passing game and the rushing attack. However, they weren’t the ones that stood out for the Eagles…
Philadelphia’s defense, led by Vic Fangio, was the real MVP of this game. They must have watched film on the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Buccaneers back in 2021 when Tampa Bay’s defense absolutely destroyed the Chiefs’ offense. The Eagles pretty much had a similar performance against Mahomes and they have proven that in order to take down Mahomes, defense is the way to go.
Sean McDermott, Bills must learn this harsh lesson to improve their pass rush
Philadelphia provided countless pressure on Mahomes and the biggest thing about that pressure, is that they were only rushing their front four. They didn’t blitz a lot yet that collapsed the pocket and were able to sack Mahomes six times and hit him 11 times. Defensive end Josh Sweat led the Eagles with 2.5 sacks in this game and 3 QB hits. With this pressure on Mahomes, Philly was able to force two interceptions, with one of them going to Cooper DeJean who returned it for a pick-six.
In both of Kansas City’s Super Bowl losses, the common theme is that if you can apply pressure consistently on Mahomes, he isn’t the player that the NFL fears. The Buccaneers did it back in 2021 and now the Eagles have done it in 2025.
Buffalo needs to go out and acquire a proven pass rusher who can upgrade their defense and be a difference maker. Take the draft picks and send them down the road to Cleveland and bring in Myles Garrett. Call up Las Vegas and see what the price is for Maxx Crosby. Heck, maybe even call up the Bengals and see if Trey Hendrickson is available.
Either way, the Bills now have two examples of what they need to do to get past the Chiefs in the playoffs. Von Miller didn’t work out unfortunately but there are plenty of pass rushers that Buffalo can go for this offseason. If Buffalo isn’t able to get themselves a proven pass rusher going into the 2025 season, then fans should expect the same result as this past season.