Vic Fangio’s Super Bowl Success Offers Broncos a Blueprint vs. Chiefs

Denver Broncos fans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Super Bowl Sunday when their former head coach, Vic Fangio, finally worked out the puzzle to shut down Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. With an 0-8 record vs. Mahomes going into Super Bowl LIX, Fangio's Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Chiefs, shutting out the six-time Pro Bowler for a large swath of the action and ultimately emerging victorious, 40-22.

The Broncos have been well aware of the inherent dangers of blitzing Mahomes and allowing him to make big plays on the run. Fangio's Eagles were able consistently pressure Mahomes with just four pass rushers, putting seven other bodies in coverage and confounding the Chiefs' superstar quarterback.

Indeed, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will doubtless be using the game tape Fangio provided in the Super Bowl as a tactical blueprint moving forward. Fangio's three seasons spent in charge of the Broncos didn't yield even one winning season, and he never could vanquish the Chiefs, so when both sides parted ways, few tears were shed. 

Even so, how Fangio created pressure on Mahomes without bringing a blitz even once should mark him as one of the top defensive coordinators the game has ever seen. Fangio's stubborn side may have worn thin during his time at the helm in Denver, but his stoic belief in his philosophies as a defensive coach never wavered, and in a roundabout way, Broncos Country is most thankful for that. 

Fangio relishes the "accomplishment" of winning his first Super Bowl as a multi-decade NFL coach, but he remained cagey about there being any additional implicit meaning attached to it.

"I heard a quote that Dean Smith [made] many years ago, if you guys remember, he went to a bunch of Final Fours before he finally won one, and they asked him the next day, 'How does it feel you got a monkey [off your back]? He said, 'I'm the same coach today as I was yesterday. We just got a championship,'" Fangio said via The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane. "So I don't look at it as it validates me or anything. It's just a great accomplishment."