Vic Fangio: Defensive effort exceeded my hopes and expectations

The Eagles had Vic Fangio working as a consultant when they lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, but he agreed to move on to become the Dolphins' defensive coordinator before the team knew Jonathan Gannon would leave to become the Cardinals' head coach.

Sean Desai took over for Gannon and got fired after one year while Fangio's stint in Miami did not unfold as hoped, so the two sides were able to reunite with Fangio running the defense in 2024. It turned out to be a case of better late than never.

The Eagles allowed the second-fewest points in the regular season, won the NFC and then stormed over the Chiefs for a 40-22 win in Super Bowl LIX. Fangio's defense led the way with six sacks and three takeaways, including cornerback Cooper DeJean's pick-six in the second quarter. They did that without Fangio calling a single blitz against Patrick Mahomes, who was 8-0 against Fangio in their first eight meetings.

After the game, Fangio said that things played out even better than he imagined.

“He’s so good against pressure that I was hoping we could play the game without having to pressure much, and that happened,” Fangio said, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “They exceeded my hopes and expectations, but I did believe we could have a good pass rush game.”

That turned out to be an understatement and Fangio can celebrate his first Super Bowl title as a result.