Yankees' Aaron Boone should learn lesson from his beloved champion Eagles

Aaron Boone's Philadelphia Eagles are your Super Bowl LIX champions after they dismantled the "dynasty" that is the Kansas City Chiefs in a contest that was never close. Even the 40-22 final score doesn't do the true blowout any justice.

Boone and the New York Yankees can learn a lot from this game and from the Eagles' season in general, if they'd like any takeaways on how to become a championship team while also batting away enemies from all directions.

Boone has not been shy about his love for the Eagles, which certainly irks New York fans (add it to the list) because of their hatred of Philadelphia. But the Yankees' manager became an Eagles fan after growing up in Philly while his dad played for the Phillies (Boone was born in California).

As for how this all relates to the Yankees, just two years ago the Eagles were in the exact same position. They were gearing up for a Super Bowl matchup against the Chiefs, who were in the midst of a dominant run. They won it all in 2019, lost to Tom Brady in the SB in 2020, and fell to the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game in 2021. But Patrick Mahomes and Co. were the best team in the league and they weren't going away.

They defeated the Eagles in that game 38-35 on a ticky-tack pass interference call that was tough to swallow. Philly followed that up with an embarrassing 2023 season that saw them bounced in the Wild Card round, which came after a Week 18 loss to the Giants.

Fast forward to the 2024 season, and the Eagles rebounded in earnest. They built one of the best rosters in the NFL after adding Saquon Barkley and drafting cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Head coach Nick Sirianni regained the locker room en route to a 14-3 record. They steamrolled everybody in the postseason, beating the Packers 22-10, the Rams 28-22, the Commanders 55-23, and the Chiefs 40-22.

How Aaron Boone, Yankees can learn from Nick Sirianni's Eagles and their Super Bowl resilience

When Sirianni and Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts stepped up the podium after the win on Sunday, the first thing they did was credit the team chemistry and one-of-a-kind connectivity up and down the roster. And if you watched the Eagles, that much was true — this was a dominant team top to bottom. Compared to the Chiefs, it wasn't even comparable. Patrick Mahomes on offense, Chris Jones on defense and then ... an unspectacular group that largely got lucky throughout 2024.

The Eagles proved just how good of an overall unit they were in their romping of the Chiefs. Kansas City shut down Saquon Barkley, their No. 1 weapon, and it hardly mattered. Jalen Hurts was on target all night, made big throws, and killed the KC defense with his legs. The Eagles' front four absolutely destroyed the Chiefs' offensive line and made Mahomes' night miserable. Philly's defense picked off Mahomes twice, which is almost unheard of. Travis Kelce had four catches for 39 yards. The Chiefs attempted 11 rushes. The Eagles didn't need a dominant showing from any individual because of how the collective performed to an utterly dominant degree for the final three quarters.

This was an effort the Yankees haven't seen since 2009, and some would even argue since 2000. The 2009 World Series team had plenty of deficiencies, but they picked one another up during an epic postseason run. But in terms of crushing the competition? They didn't exactly do that. The 1998-2000 Yankees were the last team to exert that kind of influence.

Boone is perhaps in the midst of his Eagles-like redemption arc right now (though it's a much more delayed timeline, given the organization's failures from 2018-2023). In the Eagles' first Super Bowl against the Chiefs, an undisciplined Philly defense unraveled in the second half as KC scored 24 points and won by three. In 2024, an undisciplined Yankees team coasted on their talent and were bounced in the World Series after just five games to the Dodgers.

For years, the Yankees' issue has seemingly been chemistry, first and foremost. Yes, the roster problems have loomed large, but some of those can be fixed on a united front. The 2023 Yankees were embarrassed and missed the playoffs because of overall awful play, a lack of direction in the dugout, and a poor approach by the front office. The 2024 Yankees made it to the Fall Classic, but their performance suggested they weren't championship material, from both a talent and leadership perspective.

What will the 2025 Yankees do? Will they kick in it into the next gear like the Eagles just did as they were on a mission to get revenge for the Super Bowl LVII loss and rebound from their 2023 collapse that could've easily bled into 2024? Or will they fade further into obscurity despite the rest of the AL getting worse while the NL stockpiles talent with bigger spenders?

In many ways, there are parallels to draw. We're talking different sports and journeys, but the same idea. The only difference is that there's more urgency for the Yankees, whose window is closing far more rapidly than the Eagles' ever was. But the ups and downs in regard to what Philly just experienced these last three years can be a lesson for the Yankees, who have yet to really change their ways (and some would argue have actually regressed) since Boone took over seven years ago.