'You can't be great without greatness of others' - Nobody quite like Philly

"Yeah, erm, yeah... so where do we begin?" stuttered Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata upon taking to the podium post-game. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it all.

He started as a rugby player in Australia and had just become a Super Bowl champion. The Eagles had started their season in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and had just ended it by becoming Super Bowl champions.

Two years removed from losing out on the Lombardi Trophy to the Kansas City Chiefs, he and they had finally dethroned the NFL's kings in ruthless, unrelenting style.

They hadn't just beaten the Chiefs. They had humiliated them. They had hung 40 points on the three-peat chasing dynasty that scuppered them once before.

They left Patrick Mahomes running for his life - just like in his Super Bowl defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 - and they had deciphered the Steve Spagnuolo defensive puzzle so few have managed to in recent years.

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Mailata noted that "everything hurt". He admitted he was "knackered". He said he would probably go back to the locker room and cry.

He did, though, manage to muster the Australian wit in comparing a hoard of NFL reporters to ravenous zombies from the film World War Z as they sprinted upon the announcement Saquon Barkley was heading out for media duties, jokingly echoing the tannoy voice to ensure they knew which podium he would be at.

It was, in many ways, the perfect analogy: Mailata, much like his fellow Philly offensive linemen, willingly surrendering the focus and propping up the stardom of their alien running back, who had enjoyed a quiet night by his own meteoric standards while MVP Jalen Hurts and Vic Fangio's defense crushed the Chiefs without him needing to break sweat.

With that said, he never has a quiet night, not really. Barkley grabbed the 30 yards he required to break Terrell Davis' all-time single-season rushing record, including the playoffs.

He had escaped the doom and gloom of the New York Giants, signed with Philadelphia, nestled into a tailor-made system and eclipsed 2,000 yards behind the league's best offensive line to spearhead the Eagles to the Super Bowl. He deserved a 'quiet' night.

"Such a special player," said Mailata. "There's a saying: 'Special players make special plays'. His work ethic is... there's no one like it. There's nothing I can compare to the way he works.

"The mental and physical side that he brings to an offense - he's not just a physical, powerful running back; he's a smart, patient running back.

"The communication that he's able to have between offensive coordinator, QB, offensive line, wide receivers and tight ends - we're all involved in the running game. Saquon always says it - he can't be great without the greatness of others. When I hear that, I'm like, 'you know what? Maybe it is me and not all Saquon'. Just a small chance."

Close your eyes and Caesars Superdome had the sound and feel of Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Philly's Crescent City invasion coupling with wave after wave of pressure on Mahomes and stifling coverage from the league's best defense in choking the Chiefs into mistakes.

There had been an inevitability to the defending champions as they arrived riding a run of 17consecutive victories in one-score games.

Instead, this week, there was a notion of Philly supremacy in the air as green flooded the stadium, as Eagles chants swept Bourbon Street, as Fangio sent out his attack dogs. They would not be denied like they had been two years earlier.

"Things come right on time," said Hurts. "The last time around, it wasn't our time, it wasn't my time and sometimes you have to accept that you have to wait your turn."

Wide receiver AJ Brown echoed that sentiment: "The message was: 'We can't rewrite history or do anything about the past, but we can make it even'. The guys came with that mindset and they didn't let up. From everybody - a team effort. I'm grateful it happened that way. We learned a lot."

During his half-time show, Kendrick Lamar teased his Drake diss track Not Like Us momentarily before shelving it for a slot later in the performance. Much like the Eagles' somewhat soft-launched supremacy over the Chiefs two years ago, returning now to finish the job with no punches pulled.

Kendrick, fresh from his Grammy success, bodied Drake, while the Eagles bodied the Chiefs in the way the Eagles know how as Fangio feasted behind four-man rushes and drop-seven shells to render Travis Kelce, Mahomes and Kansas City's offense virtually non-existent.

The Eagles defense did not blitz Mahomes once and yet still generated a pressure rate of 38 per cent. Meanwhile, they intercepted him twice, one a Cooper DeJean 38-yard touchdown, and sacked him six times as well as hitting him on 11 occasions.

Between DeJean, All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun - who continued his glittering year with an interception to set up a touchdown - and Fangio, the Eagles celebrated another offseason masterclass from general manager Howie Roseman when it mattered most.

"It doesn't feel real, it feels like a dream," said Baun. "I can't even put it into words. The confetti falling... I'm so happy for this team. This is what we talked about. Just super thankful and excited.

"A wild year that needs to be documented for sure. Maybe I'll write a little book on it because it's been crazy. From my son being born in April and moving to Philly three weeks later and getting to know the guys, the city, and moving my family.

"A lot of ups and downs, but the team and the guys embraced me and my family, and just made us feel really comfortable. And personal accolades, with the Super Bowl being the biggest and the most meaningful one."

Hurts strikes most as a non-fusser. But even he may have endured some frustration as build-up to Sunday fixated on Mahomes, Barkley and the defensive chess match. This night, though, belonged to him as he finished 17 of 22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while rushing for 72 yards and a score to collect Super Bowl MVP.

Hurts had never been a non-factor but in light of stingy passing figures in recent Eagles performances, he had been overlooked. But that is now two Super Bowls in which he has flourished in the face of unrivalled pressure on the most daunting stage.

"He just keeps getting better. He knows how to win. He does a great job of being able to block out all the outside noise. I find it funny when they're like, 'Jalen's good because he's got a good team around him'. That's football," said Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.

"You cannot be great without the greatness of others. Jalen cannot do it by himself. He needs AJ, he needs that offensive line, he needs Saquon and vice versa. The reason Saquon had a special year is, not only the offensive line, but the attention that Jalen commands for the run game.

"Jalen's special and the criticism just blows my mind because I think he's so special, and he's won so many games and works his butt off.

"He does a great job and he had an unbelievable game today when we needed him to."

The same might be said for Sirianni, who swatted away criticism and absorbed the heat of expectant fans as admirably as anybody possibly could have last season.

He set the tone with the decision to target Brown on a sideline fade on fourth-and-two during the opening drive - negated by a controversial offensive pass interference call - and sustained unwavering faith in his quarterback with the ball in his hands.

It was the complete Eagles experience. Intimidating decibel levels ricocheting off the walls of the Superdome and dominance in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They mauled and mutilated their way to success in blunting Mahomes, breaching the backfield, stuffing running lanes and smothering pass-catchers in the kind of fast and furious assault that steered them to 12 wins in 13 at the end of the regular season.

"Hell of a year, right? I couldn't do it without the big boys up front, everyone on this team," said Barkley. "I just appreciate them - the whole Eagles organisation. Being a newcomer, welcoming me with open arms and helping build confidence back in me too. That was definitely helpful.

"It was a hell of a year. All of the numbers, stats or records are cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy."

For now, the reign of the Chiefs is over after two straight titles, with question marks over the future of Kelce to follow and time to reflect for Mahomes and Andy Reid after seven years of contention that has reached as far as the AFC Championship game on every occasion.

For now, the Eagles are Super Bowl champions. 'Not Like Us' seems fitting.

"Credit to the Eagles," said Mahomes. "They played better than us from start to finish. We didn't start how we wanted to. Obviously the turnovers hurt and I take all the blame for that.

"Those early turnovers swing the momentum of the game and then they capitalised on them. They scored on one and then they got a touchdown immediately after, so that's 14 points that I kind of gave them.

"It's hard to come back from that in the Super Bowl. I just didn't play to my standard and I have to be better next time."