The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's Super Bowl in a way no team has done in the Patrick Mahomes-Andy Reid era.
If you didn't see Mahomes' No. 15 on his jersey, you might have wondered if backup Carson Wentz was in the game for some reason. Mahomes threw two uncharacteristic interceptions and had about a dozen off-target throws as he faced an onslaught of pressure from Philadelphia's pass rushers.
The Buffalo Bills were forced to watch the Super Bowl again after coming up short in another one-score loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs. What has to be so frustrating for general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott is that they've spent half a decade building to beat the Chiefs.
The Eagles made it look easy.
With another offseason looming for Beane and the Bills, what lessons can they learn after watching how Philadelphia dismantled Kansas City?
Watching the Eagles front dominate a Chiefs offensive line that mostly held the Bills at bay two weeks ago should have grabbed Beane's attention. Defensive end Josh Sweat, defensive tackle Jalen Carter, defensive end Milton Williams, and defensive tackle Jordan Davis are all homegrown talent.
The Bills have spent plenty of draft capital on defensive linemen since Beane arrived in 2018. Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau, and A.J. Epenesa all played against the Chiefs but didn't have nearly the impact the Eagles' rushers had.
What made Philadelphia's six-sack performance even more impressive is that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio didn't blitz a single time all game. He let his front four do the work, and they rewarded him with 16 pressures on Mahomes' 42 dropbacks. Most of the Chiefs' offensive success came in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
There have been some puzzling decisions for Beane in the draft the past few years. He's hit on some great picks, including guard O'Cyrus Torrence and cornerback Christian Benford. Still, he missed on defensive end Boogie Basham one round after taking Rousseau and selected polarizing receiver Keon Coleman in last year's draft with defensive tackle T'Vondre Swift on the board. Swift finished his rookie season as the No. 10-graded run-defending tackle in football and No. 16 overall, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Bills re-signed veteran DaQuan Jones to a two-year deal last offseason and his play dropped off in 2024. Buffalo did draft tackle DeWayne Carter in the third round of last year's draft but his contributions as a rookie were minimal. They need him to take a giant step in his second season and hope second-year defensive end Javon Solomon can crack into the rotation.
Beane and McDermott need to be more aligned than ever. There can't be another Kaiir Elam situation if they hope to build the roster with top-end talent. Beane drafted Elam in the first round of the 2022 draft and he's never been able to lock down a starting role.
The Bills have three picks in the first two rounds of April's draft. Here are the picks they've made in that range over the past five seasons:
The only player to reach a Pro Bowl of the bunch is Cook, who had a breakout season in 2024. He's one of Beane's best draft picks to date. Admittedly, Pro Bowls aren't the best measure of player success, considering the modern criteria for making the team. But it's the best we have to show the lack of impact players the draft has yielded for the Bills in early rounds the past five seasons.
The Bills must study the kind of players that have hit in recent years at key positions like receiver and defensive line. They must take a shared vision into the draft to find impact players. The Eagles drafted Sweat in the fourth round and Williams in the third round. Both were terrors against Mahomes on Sunday.
2. Take an honest look at the defensive scheme
When Eagles coach Nick Sirianni hired Kellen Moore as his offensive coordinator last offseason, many wondered who would set the offensive identity for their offense. Sirianni was an offensive coordinator before getting the Eagles gig and ran a different scheme than Moore. But instead of forcing Moore to run his system, Sirianni made it a collaboration.
"It's meshing of two systems," Sirianni said last February. "To grow in both systems so we can put the best product on the field. ... we're going to be doing different things, but also we're going to be doing things that we've been successful at as well."
The Bills are in a difficult situation with a defensive-minded coach with years of proven success with the system he brought over from Carolina. Leslie Frazier was the defensive coordinator for six of McDermott's eight seasons in Buffalo. When Frazier decided to step away from the role, McDermott called the defense in 2023 before giving way to young coordinator Bobby Babich in 2024. Babich has coached on McDermott's staff since he arrived in 2017.
The Bills have often relied on their zone-first scheme over the years but decided to play more man coverage this season, especially in the AFC title game. Against Mahomes two weeks ago, Buffalo played man on nearly half of his dropbacks - the highest man rate against the Chiefs across nine career games against Mahomes. He went 12-for-15 for 169 yards and a touchdown against Buffalo's defense when in man coverage.
Philadelphia didn't blitz Mahomes once because they didn't have to. McDermott and Babich, however, sent 10 blitzes against Mahomes in the AFC title game because they didn't believe in their ability to affect the quarterback with just four defensive linemen.
Rousseau, Oliver, and Epenesa combined for four quarterback pressures against Mahomes. In the Super Bowl, Sweat generated six pressures by himself. The personnel is an issue, and the lack of major hits in the draft is a problem, but McDermott must take a long look in the mirror regarding his defense this offseason. Babich isn't going anywhere but bringing in a defensive advisor with a different philosophical background could be what helps this defense get over the hump.
3. Josh Allen proved what he could do in '24 but he deserves a legit weapon
The Eagles traded for A.J. Brown in 2022 and used a first-round pick on speedster Devonta Smith the year before. Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman is generally regarded as the best in the business, and his draft record and ability to acquire difference-makers are why.
On a low-cost, one-year deal, journeyman receiver Mack Hollins was tremendous for the Bills. He led the team in receiving touchdowns and made a few key catches against the Chiefs two weeks ago.
Beane spent a first-round pick on tight end Dalton Kincaid, who was supposed to play the Travis Kelce role in Buffalo's offense. But after a strong rookie season, Kincaid struggled to stay on the field with a few injuries and finished the season with just two touchdowns.
The Bills don't have speed or separation on the outside. That's what both Smith and Brown showed off in the Super Bowl. Kincaid has struggled to ascend in the offense partly because he's been forced into an odd tandem with longtime Allen favorite Dawson Knox, who's on the books with a $14.5 million cap number in 2025. Buffalo has never successfully found a way to run a two-tight end-heavy offense in the passing game. Both players generally do better when the other is out of the lineup.
Coleman may take a considerable step next season, but the Bills desperately need him to develop into a legitimate threat on the outside. No receiver in the NFL averaged fewer yards of separation per route run in 2024 than Coleman. Making the Coleman pick sting a little more, Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy, who Kansas City selected when they traded up with the Bills to pick no. 28 last April, finished the season on a heater. He went off in the Super Bowl as one of the only Chiefs players to put up numbers.
Beane needs to find a receiver that can have that kind of impact on the Bills in 2025. It may be Coleman or Kincaid, but the GM should try to turn over every stone in free agency and the draft to add talent.