Staff Writer
Kansas City emerged victorious in this year’s Super Bowl after a thrilling 38-35 instant classic against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The biggest night of the year for American sports started smoothly for the Eagles, who scored on their first drive of the game led by QB Jalen Hurts. Kansas City’s offense responded with a touchdown of their own, but struggled to continue their momentum and get comfortable in the second quarter. After some key defensive stops by the Eagles, Philadelphia imposed themselves in the game by being aggressive, converting 3rd and 4th downs, and scoring twice more in the quarter to extend their lead. More importantly, the Eagles were slow and methodical with their offense, taking their time in order to keep Patrick Mahomes and the KC offense away from the ball.
In a scary moment at the end of the first half, superstar Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes seemed to roll his right ankle – the same one he injured with a high ankle sprain in the first round of the playoffs to keep him sidelined for the rest of that first round game against Jacksonville. Although he reaggravated the injury, Mahomes was able to tough it out and stay in the game.
The score was 24-14 going into halftime, when Rihanna took the stage for the halftime show. She performed a multitude of her career hits before unveiling her pregnancy with her second child in a memorable and large-scale performance.
In the second half, the Chiefs offense started to gain momentum and the Eagles had no response on defense. Mahomes looked sharp despite the injury concerns, and his supporting cast including Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, and Juju Smith-Schuster stepped up and did their part in the most explosive offense in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense were sharp as well, able to keep up with the Chiefs high-powered offense after they took the slight lead in the 4th quarter and tied the game back up with a Jalen Hurts touchdown and 2pt conversion on the same drive.
Kansas City had the ball to end the game with the opportunity to win with a score. They took their time on the drive to chew up the clock and eventually made it down to the red zone on a 3rd down. Mahomes looked to Smith-Schuster for the touchdown pass but overthrew him, although Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was called for holding, giving the Chiefs another set of downs to convert the possession and chew some more clock. Ultimately, the Chiefs settled for a field goal that Harrison Butker converted to give them a 38-35 lead with 8 seconds left that the Eagles did not have the time to overcome.
The late holding call was viewed as controversial by media figures and commentators, but when pressed on the call, Eagles head coach Nick Siriani and cornerback James Bradberry admitted the call was correct and Bradberry had indeed held onto Smith-Schuster in hopes that the referees would not call it.
The thrilling ending topped off one of the highest-scoring Super Bowls in NFL history, giving a great game and halftime show performance to the fans as Kansas City holds the Lombardi trophy once more with Patrick Mahomes claiming Super Bowl MVP.
