The Philadelphia Eagles were so close to winning Super Bowl 57 against the Kansas City Chiefs but their defense let them down. Former Eagles defensive coordinator and now-Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has taken responsibility for his role in the loss: “I’m the reason we lost the Super Bowl,” said Gannon.
Almost seven months later, Gannon is finally speaking up on the matter after dodging the media following the Super Bowl loss from last February. To this day, two key plays stick out to Gannon as something he and the Eagles’ defense should’ve been prepared for that made a major impact on the outcome of the Super Bowl.
First, Gannon referenced wide receiver Kadarius Toney’s touchdown early in the fourth quarter that officially wiped a 10-point lead the Eagles took to halftime. “We should’ve been fine,” says Gannon. He added that the team “Defended that play all year,” however they didn’t do it on the NFL’s biggest stage.
Next, the former Eagles defensive coordinator referenced the four-yard touchdown pass to Skyy Moore. He shouldered the blame for this score, saying “The second one is on the call, truthfully.” Gannon didn’t have his defense in the right position to defend that play.
It was a tough Super Bowl loss, especially for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who arguably had one of the best individual performances in Super Bowl history. He accounted for 400 total yards of offense and four touchdowns while leading the Eagles to 35 points and still fell short of the ultimate goal.
