Philadelphia Eagles defensive back CJ Gardner-Johnson more or less predicted the story of Super Bowl LIX over a year and a half in advance, and he has the receipts.
Gardner-Johnson highlighted a post he made on X from July 3, 2023, in which he reflected on the team’s previous loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs won that game 38-35, but it was marred in some ways by an extraordinarily slippery playing surface that impacted both teams. The Eagles struggled to get much pressure on Patrick Mahomes that night despite an outstanding defensive line, which some saw as a decisive factor in the defeat and partially the fault of the turf.
Gardner-Johnson certainly held that view. In 2023, he posted that the Eagles’ defensive line would have “smash(ed)” Kansas City had they been playing on “legit grass.” The veteran safety went back and found that post after Philadelphia did just that in Sunday’s game, and took something of a victory lap.
“And y’all thought I was tripping,” Gardner-Johnson wrote.
And yall thought I was tripping 😂😂😂 https://t.co/8UBi1WzqxD
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) February 10, 2025
Mahomes was sacked six times in Super Bowl LIX and found himself under immense pressure even when he wasn’t. Moreover, the Eagles got all that pressure without even needing to blitz. That was decisive in shutting down Kansas City’s offense for the bulk of the game and preventing Mahomes from making big plays both inside and outside of the pocket. Notably, there were no real complaints about the playing field in Sunday’s game, either.
At the time, it seemed as if Gardner-Johnson was making excuses for the Eagles’ loss. Some of the personnel are different now, but perhaps he was onto something all along.
