For a large chunk of the Philadelphia Eagles roster, the Super Bowl 59 victory was a shot at redemption from two seasons ago. When the two teams met back then, it was a hard-fought victory for the Kansas City Chiefs, who won 38-35.
This time around, there was no such drama as the Eagles handily took care of business, winning 40-22 in a dominant defensive display. One such name who was ready for a repeat since the moment Super Bowl 57 came to a close was safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson Predicted Exact Outcome of Super Bowl Rematch
Two years ago, the outlook for both teams was very different. However, a common complaint after the game from Philadelphia’s locker room was the turf.
Super Bowl 57 was played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and the field had a movable grass field — to which Eagles players voiced their disdain.
They alluded to the surface being more slippery than usual, but Johnson went a step ahead and claimed that Philly would have won on a different surface. “Run that bowl back on legit grass , the Dline SMASH that Oline I’m sorry.”
Run that bowl back on legit grass , the Dline SMASH that Oline I’m sorry 🗣️🗣️🗣️
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) July 3, 2023
This time around, when the two teams met, that exact story played out. Despite not attempting blitzes, the Vic Fangio-coached Eagles defense had their way with a Kansas City offensive line that had question marks throughout the year.
In total, they sacked Mahomes six times throughout the game and even landed 11 QB hits on him. It was a bruising display, punctuated by a strip sack and two interceptions, including a pick-six for the Eagles No. 2-ranked defense per PFN’s Defense+ metric.
Gardner-Johnson himself had a strong outing, with three tackles to his name as he provided excellent coverage to help shut out Kansas City in the first half. Personally, the safety had a similar outing in 2023 as well, when he tallied four total tackles.
Nonetheless, the Eagles’ defense as a whole got just five quarterback hits and couldn’t sack Mahomes even once in Super Bowl 57. As Gardner-Johnson predicted, the exact script played out and Philadelphia walked away as the commanding winners.