It’s one thing to advertise your new head coach as someone who got to the Super Bowl. What Kellen Moore achieved is something else altogether:
It’s one thing to advertise your new head coach as someone who got to the Super Bowl. That message in itself resonates with young star talents like Chris Olave — but what Kellen Moore achieved on Sunday night is something else altogether. The Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator put on a clinic in Super Bowl LIX, preparing his offense to handle one of the NFL’s greatest defenses. And this performance has to be music to the New Orleans Saints’ ears.
Moore faced off with Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and turned the clock back to 2012, when Spags’ Saints defense allowed 440 yards per game. They gave up 345 total yards to the Eagles after allowing just 320 this season. Moore’s unit put up 33 of Philly’s 40 points (not counting a pick-six by rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean), largely thanks to good play from Jalen Hurts in the pocket. A notoriously poor passer against the blitz, Hurts hung in tough against the Chiefs pass rush Spagnuolo has tooled into sending extra pressure.
You can bet Moore walking into the locker room with a Super Bowl ring on his finger will command attention. He still has to accept the Saints job, of course, but that’s long been the expectation. You play to win the game, and to get to this stage, and to win it all like Moore just did. That credibility matters in the NFL.
Outscoring the two-time Super Bowl champs and spoiling their shot at a three-peat is impressive. Doing it inside the Caesars Superdome where the Saints play their home games is meaningful. If the Saints can seal the deal and get Moore to sign a contract? If nothing else it would be a huge shift in vibes from where this team has been. Now let’s see them get across the goal line.
If Baltimore Ravens fans want to find a rooting interest in Super Bowl LIX, they will obviously need to reach a little bit.
If Baltimore Ravens fans want to find a rooting interest in Super Bowl LIX, they will need to reach out a little bit, but they do have some connections to the team favored to three-peat, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Lamar Jackson seems to support the Chiefs because of his close friendship with a former teammate, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Let’s look at this connection and a couple of others.
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown
Jackson posted an Instagram story in support of Brown, expressing his hope that the former Ravens wideout will win his first Super Bowl ring this Sunday. Brown played with Jackson for three seasons, including 2021, which was a monster year for him.
Before leaving Charm City for Arizona, Brown put up a 91-1,008-6 in ’21.
Steve Spagnuolo
He’s the classic example of a man ideally suited to being a defensive coordinator but ill-equipped to be the head coach. He could win his fifth Super Bowl ring as a DC tomorrow, and he’ll always be remembered as the football genius who somehow stifled the offensive juggernaut that was the 16-0 regular-season 2007 New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII when no one else could.
However, his one head coaching stint ended with a record of just 10-38. With the Ravens, he served as a defensive assistant in 2013 and a secondary coach in 2014.
Greg Lewis
This is the very rare “connections to both teams in the Super Bowl” situation. The 44-year-old Chicago native became the Ravens wide receivers coach in March of 2023, following a very successful stint with the Kansas City Chiefs.
He led the Chiefs’ running backs in 2021 and 2022 after serving as WRs coach the three previous seasons. During his time in Kansas City, Lewis went to five conference championship games and three Super Bowls, winning two of them.
With the Chiefs and Eagles squaring off in Super Bowl LIX, are any former Rams players or coaches vying for a ring?
Along with 30 other teams, the Los Angeles Rams will be at home watching Super Bowl LIX as the Kansas City Chiefs look to win their third straight championship with only the Philadelphia Eagles standing in their way.
It’s a rematch of the Super Bowl two years ago, which the Chiefs won, 38-35, the second title of Patrick Mahomes’ career. After also beating the San Francisco 49ers last year, the Chiefs are trying to make it three in a row.
The Rams have their own former players scattered around the NFL but they won’t be well-represented in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday. There’s only one former Rams player on the active roster, and he’s a backup who won’t see the field.
Former Rams playing in Super Bowl LIX
Chiefs QB Carson Wentz
Wentz is the only former Ram on the active roster for the Chiefs or Eagles, and unless Mahomes gets injured, Wentz won’t get on the field for a single snap. Wentz spent part of the 2023 season with the Rams as Matthew Stafford’s backup before signing with the Chiefs in free agency last offseason.
The Chiefs have one other former member of the Rams participating on Sunday, but it’s not a player. It’s defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was St. Louis’ head coach from 2009-2011. He’s been with the Chiefs since 2019, winning three Super Bowls with Kansas City.
Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is pleased that Mike Vrabel was hired as the head coach of the New England Patriots.
He spoke about the hiring this week as the Chiefs prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl LIX.
“I grew up a Patriots fan my whole life, and I get to coach in the first few Super Bowls and they’re both against the Patriots instead of with them,” Spagnuolo told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Tim McKone. “Listen, I still love watching the Patriots. I’m so happy for the Patriots with Mike Vrabel. I’m a big Mike Vrabel fan.”
Spagnuolo has made his mark as one of the best defensive minds in the NFL. He has been the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator since the 2019 season, but Patriots fans remember him as the man behind the defense that ruined their perfect season in 2007.
. @Tim_McKone caught up with Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo for a quick second at Super Bowl Opening Night
Spagnuolo being a fan of Vrabel’s is a good sign for a Patriots organization still seeking a proper rebuild for the team. Vrabel has already established an impressive coaching staff to help turn things around.
The next step is to pick and sign the right players in free agency and the 2025 NFL draft.
Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is one of the most respected defensive minds in football. So respected, it’s almost easy to forget his disastrous year with the Saints:
Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is renowned as one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, and a critical part of the team’s dynasty. He’s proven to be the perfect compliment to an offense built by Andy Reid and powered by Patrick Mahomes.
It would be easy to forget he was the New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator for one season a little over decade ago. The history books won’t forget. In that season, New Orleans allowed 7,042 yards, the most in NFL history.
This was the season Sean Payton was suspended for the entire year. Upon his return, Payton fired Spagnuolo, who bounced around the league for a few years until he ended up in Kansas City. Reid doesn’t hold that season against his defensive coordinator, not just because it was a long time ago.
Speaking with reporters this week from the Caesars Superdome turf, Reid said he believes Spagnuolo, “Didn’t have enough time here necessarily to really get the whole thing going, but he’s a good coach.” It’s hard to disagree seeing the success he’s having. Spagnuolo has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and is closing in on his fourth. Few defensive play callers have sustained success like this in NFL history.
For Spagnuolo, 2012 was a hard season, of course. “That particular year, I took a lot of lessons,” Spagnuolo told NOLA.com’s Luke Johnson during his own media availability. If those lessons allowed him to craft this defense, we can chalk 2012 up to being a necessary evil.
As his career has continued, that 2012 season has become a small footnote in his career. He was a successful, Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator prior to joining the Saints, and became a pillar of a dynasty after leaving the Saints.
The Chiefs might soon be known as the greatest NFL team of all time. It didn’t happen overnight.
At this point, we are running out of superlatives for this Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.
With their consistent on-field excellence, they have made themselves the NFL’s primary figurehead. There is no other close competition for that title until further notice. And now, they are just one win away in this Sunday’s Super Bowl 59 to become the first NFL team to complete a three-peat in the modern Super Bowl era.
It’s kind of mind-boggling to consider when you think about it on a deeper level.
How did the Chiefs put themselves on the brink of legendary history? Which people have been instrumental in crafting and preserving this all-time team? Do we, mere mortals, have any hope of their run ending any time soon?
Let’s unpack how the Chiefs got to Super Bowl 59 and try to answer these questions in the process.
1. Draft Patrick Mahomes and never look back
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs are about to play in their fifth Super Bowl in six years. You’ll forgive me if I have (almost) nothing new to say about their latest run to the only football game played in February.
So, let’s start from the very beginning.
Drafting Mahomes and throwing him into a win-now situation with a complete roster in 2017/2018 was a master stroke. The man isn’t even 30 and already has a 17-3 playoff record as a quarterback. He is the biggest reason other generational talents like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have yet to even appear in the Super Bowl, let alone win one.
With all due respect to Jerry Rice and Tom Brady, we’re talking about arguably the best football player of all time. As long as Mahomes wears the Chiefs uniform, they will be a championship contender for the duration of his career. Something tells me this run isn’t ending any time soon, either.
Crazier things have happened, but this will not be the last time we see a Mahomes-led Chiefs team making it to the final Sunday of the year.
He is the definition of inevitable.
2. Pouncing on Steve Spagnuolo after a painful AFC title game loss in 2019
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The smartest coaching decision an organization can make in the modern NFL is going offense-first for the head coach. Because that means the ingrained system never changes, no matter which subordinate inevitably leaves. For the time being in Kansas City, that is Andy Reid, a bona fide future First-Ballot Hall of Famer. It’s hard to do better.
And when you have this foundational offensive head coach, you’re free to pursue the forward-thinking defensive mind that becomes much more interchangeable. Bonus points if this defensive mind is someone who is a bit older and will actually probably never try to be a head coach again. Your system can now stay firmly in place on both sides of the ball.
Enter Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. After a failed head-coaching stint with the then-St. Louis Rams from 2009 to 2011, Spagnuolo bounced around the league as a defensive assistant. When the Chiefs’ job came open following a tough defeat to the New England Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship Game, it was a match made in heaven.
Kansas City now effectively has the 65-year-old Spagnuolo — an elite coordinator — guiding an underrated Chiefs defense with little to no fear that he’ll step away for other job opportunities. It’s the ultimate set-up.
What an ingenious hiring decision that has helped bolster this red and gold dynasty.
3. Make a blood pact with dark, ulterior forces (probably)
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Am I willing to accept that great teams like the Chiefs make their own luck? Sure. Why not? I’ve seen it before. Do I understand that the human element of officiating inherently means there will be missed calls, and any perceived inkling of bias is more related to my own priors? Yes. I mean, I’m human, and none of these sports things really matter. I’m allowed to believe whatever I want when I just want to be a hater. You’ll take that right from me out of my cold, dead hands.
With all of that said, I refuse to believe the Chiefs haven’t made some kind of deal with some kind of devil out there. And I will hedge that by noting that we can neither confirm nor deny that this happened. The burden of proof is ultimately on the other (much more rational) side to say that it didn’t. Again, as a hater, I can do what I want.
Because, in my estimation, the way the Chiefs won this year defied all natural law. They doinked in game-winning field goals. They blocked chip-shot field goals with the game on the line. They lost key playmaker after key playmaker. Mahomes enjoyed one of the worst regular seasons of his career.
Yet, none of it mattered!
This screams like it’s the work of Lucifer, Cthulhu, or Beelzebub, who have you. The Chiefs clearly have someone’s blessing, and it seems pretty evident they are not benevolent. This being is probably laughing at all of us, too.
(Ignoring all on-field evidence and logical thinking): there is simply no other explanation. Sorry!
Kansas City #Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie explains mindset during blitz calls: ‘I have the biggest smile’ | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC Championship last Sunday, in large part due to how they ended the game against the Buffalo Bills. Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive blitz calls were a considerable discussion from the night, as Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie explained during his press conference on Thursday.
“Whenever coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) calls a blitz, I’m usually pretty confident; especially late in the games, he does it very well where you never know what side the blitz is coming,” said McDuffie. “I heard the linemen actually check the protection the other way, and right after that, I was like, ‘We got them.'”
McDuffie, who was named to his second consecutive AP All-Pro team this season, was one of the blisters from the secondary that ended a promising Josh Allen drive.
“I always tell people, ‘I have the biggest smile on my face when I’m blitzing,'” said McDuffie. “That’s my dead giveaway if you line up against me. When you blitz, there are holes in the defense. Some guys may be put in awkward situations, so whenever (Spagnuolo) sends a blitz with the game on the line, you know he trusts the back end and trusts the people blitzing.”
The Chiefs hope to bring this confidence and success defensively in their Super Bowl LIX matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kansas City #Chiefs safety Justin Reid reveals extra motivation for Super Bowl LIX: ‘We gotta win’ | @EdEastonJr
The build-up for Super Bowl LIX is well underway, with the Kansas City Chiefs pursuing history against the Philadelphia Eagles. The players are gearing up to enhance their legacies in the biggest game of the year, with more than the Lombardi trophy on the line.
Chiefs safety Justin Reid has known nothing but success with the Chiefs throughout his tenure, and this year’s Super Bowl has extra meaning for the new father and Louisiana native. Reid spoke with reporters about the many tickets he purchased for friends and family before the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
“Those ticket prices are running up, man, said Reid. “Like, I got 30 of them. We’re excited to play, and we’re chasing glory, but we gotta win just for me to break even.”
Reid’s revealing comments at the press conference were met with plenty of laughter as the veteran defensive back continued to produce on the field this season. The veteran defensive back has been among the team leaders in tackles during the postseason. Reid remains one of the pass rushers out of the secondary during special Steve Spagnuolo blitz schemes.
Two former New Orleans Saints coaches will be the defensive coordinators of Super Bowl LIX, as Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs take on Vic Fangio’s Eagles:
The New Orleans Saints were about the furthest thing you could be from a Super Bowl team this season, firing their head coach halfway through the season on the way to a 5-12 record and a last place finish in the NFC South. However, two former coaches of theirs will be the defensive coordinators in Super Bowl LIX. Vic Fangio is calling defensive plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Steve Spagnuolo is his counterpart on the Kansas City Chiefs.
It has been quite a while since either of these coaches worked for the Saints however. Spagnuolo was the defensive coordinator for the 2012 Saints before moving on to become a senior defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013. Fangio you have to go quite a ways further back, as he was with the Saints from 1986 to 1994 as a linebackers coach before he was promoted to defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers from 1995 to 1998.
Technically these two have been in a Super Bowl against each other before as well, as Fangio was a consultant for the Eagles in 2022 when they matched up with the Chiefs for Super Bowl LVII, and Spagnuolo has been the Chiefs defensive coordinator since 2019. However this will be our first chance to see them try to bring the best defense to the field in the biggest game of the year against one another.
Kansas City #Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams reveals gameplan for stopping the ‘Tush Push’ vs. Buffalo #Bills | @EdEastonJr
The Kansas City Chiefs earned another trip to the Super Bowl with their AFC Championship win over the Buffalo Bills. The defense, led by Steve Spagnuolo, stopped one of Buffalo’s most efficient plays.
Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams recently appeared as a guest on the ‘Up and Adams Show‘ to discuss the multiple short-yardage stops in the AFC Championship victory.
“I don’t blame the Bills for doing that; they have a big, strong Quarterback (Josh Allen) back there, 6’6 and 250 pounds or whatever. You know, that’s usually an easy pickup right there for them. You know, a lot of the things we practiced during the week were short yardage, 3rd and 4th down.” said Williams. “During the week he’s (Steve Spagnuolo) telling us we have to get these stops, we have to get these stops. A lot of times you get into the game and it’s not exactly what you did at practice because there’s so much other factors. You being tired, them going right to the line, and quick hiking. I think our defense just did a good job getting up there. Everybody getting in their gaps, shooting their gaps, and you know, we picked up the stops because of that.”
The Chiefs’ defense stepped up tremendously in those moments and will have to take it to another level against the Philadelphia Eagles, who revolutionized the short-yardage play.
