Truth Hurts? Not for AFC Teams Watching the Super Bowl

The Miami Dolphins can take some comfort from watching the Eagles dismantle the Kansas City Chiefs

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) meet on the field after game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Despite everything you might have heard amid the hype and hoopla that followed Super Bowl LIX, this game didn't change the hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks.

What it did was provide the Miami Dolphins and most NFL teams evidence, and maybe a blueprint, that you can win a title even if you don't have Patrick Mahomes on your roster or Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow — the four guys who should make up everybody's Fab Four.

As well as Jalen Hurts performed in the Philadelphia Eagles' 40-22 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs, he's still not on that level, no matter what sort of breathless commentary you might hear.

But that's what happens with the quarterback position — see Manning, Eli — where everything gets reduced to that position, sometimes overlooking the fact those guys are bound to make plays considering they touch the ball on every play.

Again, Hurts did play very well against the Chiefs, but beyond the fact he had great pass protection more often than not, he wasn't the biggest reason the Eagles dominated. They dominated because their pass rush suffocated Mahomes and produced two takeaways late in the first half that turned a 10-0 lead into a 24-0 halftime cushion.

Defensive end Josh Sweat, who had 2.5 sacks and whose pressure pushed tackle Joe Thuney as Mahomes was throwing the pass that linebacker Zack Baun intercepted at the KC 14-yard line, should have been the Super Bowl MVP.

But that's another story for another time.

The main point here is that it's not all about the quarterback, even though it's always the easiest storyline.

THE DOLPHINS AND WHAT THEY NEED TO DO

There are some commonalities between Hurts and the Dolphins' own Tua Tagovailoa, as former University of Alabama teammates and fellow members of the 2020 draft class.

They're also very different stylistically, with Hurts a major contributor to the Eagles running game and Tagovailoa being the more accomplished passer.

Where each ranks among NFL quarterbacks certainly is open to debate, but what isn't is that neither is as good as the Fab Four — and that didn't change because Hurts' TEAM defeated Mahomes' TEAM on Sunday. Really, if the quarterbacks had changed teams in Super Bowl LIX, does anyone doubt that the Eagles still would have won?

The point here is the Eagles won because they had the best team, top to bottom, in the NFL and not simply because they had the best quarterback. Not even mainly.

What does that have to do with the Dolphins?

Well, it says they don't necessarily need a Mahomes-like or Allen-like or Jackson-like quarterback to make a Super Bowl run if they can put together a championship-caliber roster around their QB.

This says that Tagovailoa can get the job done if the Dolphins can beef up their roster, though they have a ways to go to get there and Tagovailoa's large contract — along with those of a few big-name veterans — kind of limits their ability to stockpile talent.

There's no question that having that elite quarterback still makes things easier and increases the margin for error, but at least the Eagles have proven there are other ways to get to that Super Bowl title.