Owner Admits Eagles Were Still Angry From Super Bowl Loss Two Years Ago

NEW ORLEANS – Jeffrey Lurie stood just outside the locker room in the bowels of the Caesars Superdome late Sunday night, away from the stifling and overpowering smell of cigar smoke Eagles players and support staff were smoking in celebration of their 40-22 romp over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

The sound of music could still be heard thumping inside, but it was calmer where the Eagles owner held court for about 15 reporters.

“It’s incredible joy,” he said. “What can you say when you love your team so much, and you achieve the ultimate, the world championship? It’s incredible. It’s gratifying.”

Lurie didn’t say which title was better, this one that dismantled a Chiefs dynasty or the one that disrupted the New England Patriots dynasty in 2017.

“They’re all uniquely incredible,” he said. “Now, we’ve been able to beat (Tom) Brady and the Patriots, (Patrick) Mahomes and the Chiefs, (Bill) Belichick and Andy (Reid). You gotta be resilient. You gotta have the core values. You gotta build the rosters right. And you gotta have the culture be terrific. So, I’m very proud of what we’re able to do. I thought we’d be able to do it two years ago, and here we are, we did it two years later.

Yeah, two years ago. That 38-35 loss still rankles Lurie and the organization. Perhaps not the loss so much, but the way it ended, with a third-down holding call on James Bradberry that allowed the Chiefs to run the clock down to a handful of seconds to kick the winning field goal.

Had the flag not been thrown, KC would have kicked a field goal and the Eagles still have a minute-and-half or so to try to put a drive together to win or tie, allowing the game to be decided on the field and not in the back pocket of an official.

It was a debatable call, though Bradberry admitted afterward he did hold. Problem was the timing of it, especially when some other holds that took place during the game never drew a flag.

“We’re still angry about two years ago,” said Lurie. “That partly drove us. We had it taken away from us with, what, 100-something seconds to go? We lived that every day. It’s tough to deny what happened.”

Those demons have been exorcised and not it’s time to start thinking about going back-to-back. The pieces are in place, but Lurie said humility will have to play a part in what transpires next, too.

“We gotta remain humble,” said the owner. “I just believe in being humble. It’s really part of the culture. And the moment you think that you’re better than you should be, you lose that edge. You just want everyone to remain humble from the top down. There are a lot of smart franchises in this league. I’m grateful that we’re able to be world champs in a league with a lot of smart franchises.”

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