NEW ORLEANS — The sting is real, it still hurts, and it might prove to be a powerful motivator come Sunday.
The Eagles’ loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 2023 and their collapse from last season serve as powerful motivating factors for them as they try to avenge that loss in Super Bowl 2025 on Sunday, according to some of their players and coaches.
Those failures, which, included a wild-card playoff loss to the Buccaneers last season, are things the Eagles believe made them stronger.
“Everybody kind of jumped on board with the mission,” Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata said Wednesday. “I mean, after a year like last year heading into the new year, you kind of don’t want to want to repeat that. You don’t want history to repeat itself in that way.
“I think there’s a lot of fire under a lot of guys on this team that are still here, part of this team then and now. You can only do that if you learn from your mistakes. It can make you or break you.’
“We became closer because of that. Last year just wasn’t up to the standard, and we’re not gonna let that happen again. So, the guys who were here last year, definitely we’re all a little bit closer just going through that adversity.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said he was “grateful” for the experience of that failure.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts said the Super Bowl loss “lit a fire in me.”
“I’ve learned so much,” Hurts sad. “Ultimately, every game has its lessons — good, bad or indifferent. So, just being able to become wiser, grow and mature and take all these lessons in for the next season and the next games, it’s had a great driving force.
“To have this opportunity again is exactly what you work for. It’s a blessing to see all the hard work pay off and have this opportunity again. It means everything.”
