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Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, head coach Nick Sirianni give 'all glory to God' after Super Bowl LIX win

By Jon Ackerman Feb 10, 2025
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, left, holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy next to head coach Nick Sirianni, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

After losing the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs two years ago, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts vowed to get back. He had played one of the best games of his life, only to come up a field goal short.

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That loss, however, was one of the biggest driving factors in getting Hurts and Eagles not only back to the Super Bowl, but also leaving as champions. They crushed the Chiefs on Sunday night in Super Bowl LIX, 40-22, in New Orleans.

Hurts was named the game’s MVP. He completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and added 11 carries for 72 yards and another touchdown. That rushing total is a Super Bowl record for a quarterback, breaking the mark he set in the losing effort against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII (70). And with the win, he becomes just the fourth starting QB to win a Super Bowl after losing in his first attempt.

The victory gives the Eagles franchise its second Super Bowl trophy. The club also won in 2017-18, defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Sunday marked Philadelphia’s fifth Super Bowl appearance.

It may not have been possible were it not for the crushing defeat two years ago in Phoenix.

“Going through those emotions and processing those things and processing that experience lit a great flame in me and enhanced my desire to win significantly,” Hurts acknowledged Sunday night in his postgame press conference.

Hurts also said this championship “means a lot” when looking back over his football journey, which he described as “unprecedented.” He won a college football national championship in 2018 with Alabama, but was benched at halftime of that game, only to watch Tua Tagovailoa lead a comeback win in overtime. Hurts was relegated being to Tagovailoa’s backup the next season, and he later transferred to Oklahoma to finish his college career.

He was a second-round pick by the Eagles in 2020, a time when Carson Wentz (now a Chiefs backup) was leading the Eagles. After 12 games, they replaced Wentz with Hurts, who’s been the Philly starter ever since.

Through it all, Hurts has said he aims to never get too high or too low. And he looks to the Lord for guidance.

“God is good. He’s greater than all the highs and the lows,” Hurts told Fox Sports on the field Sunday night. “Personally, I’ve just been able to use every experience and learn from it. The good, the bad, all of it, using it as fuel to pursue my own greatness. I couldn’t do any of these things without the guys around me. We had a special group this year. We were able to learn from the past, get some nice, new pieces, and get over that hump.”

Hurts has shared about his faith in God many times before, including this past week.

“My faith has always been a part of me,” Hurts told Sports Spectrum on Tuesday. “I’ve always wanted to root myself in that and keep Him in the center of my life and everything that I do. So through the highs and the lows, He’s greater than all of them, and that’s something that I can always acknowledge.”

Hurts’ head coach, Nick Sirianni, also gave glory to God after the game.

“God’s blessed us very much,” he said on the field. “He gave us all the talents to be able to get here. So first and foremost, thanks to Him.” The coach later added, “Thank God, thank You Jesus.”

Sirianni took over as the Eagles head coach in 2021, his first head coaching gig in the NFL. The team went 9-8 that first season, but 14-3 the next and reached the Super Bowl. The Eagles struggled last year to an 11-6 record, largely hindered by a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league. So they addressed the weakness in the draft, made some key free-agent signings, and this year produced a 14-3 regular-season record behind a defense that was No. 1 in fewest total yards allowed (278.4), No. 1 in fewest passing yards allowed (174.2), and No. 2 in points allowed (17.8).

Sirianni’s 48 regular-season wins are the second-most for an NFL coach in his first four seasons. And he got his first Super Bowl championship largely thanks to that stout defense, which forced three turnovers, including one pick-six, totaled six sacks, held the Chiefs to just 49 rushing yards, and didn’t allow a touchdown until 34 seconds were left in the third quarter. The Eagles were up 34-0 at that point, the largest deficit Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes had ever faced in his pro career.

Hurts and Sirianni said after the game that this was certainly a team win.

“You don’t do great things without the guys around you,” Hurts said. “You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” echoed Sirianni.

On the field, amid the jubilation that comes with winning a Super Bowl title, Sirianni paused and looked to the sky. He was asked what was thinking in that moment.

“All glory to God,” he said in the press conference. “He gives us the talents to be in these situations, and the talent to be able to coach football, and the opportunity to be able to coach football, so just gratitude right there.”

>> Do you know Christ personally? Learn how you can commit your life to Him. <<

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