A Tale of Two Halves
Chiefs fight back, upend Eagles in Super Bowl LVII
Watching the Rihanna half time show, which my daughter has requested I champion as nothing short of ‘amazing,’ it was hard to envision a scenario in which the Kansas City Chiefs could possibly find a way to win Super Bowl LVII.
The Philadelphia Eagles spent the first 30 minutes of the game reminding everyone on Earth how they reached the Super Bowl in the first place. They displayed utter domination on both sides of the ball, outgaining the Chiefs in yardage 270-128, first downs 17-6, running 44 plays to Kansas City’s 20, and holding the ball for an almost inconceivable 21 minutes and 54 seconds. They were 6-10 on 3rd down, 1-1 on 4th down, and drew Kansas City offsides on another 4th down. Though their lead was only 10 at the time, due in part to an ugly Jalen Hurts fumble in Philadelphia’s own zone that was returned 35 yards by Nick Bolton for a Kansas City touchdown, it felt as though the crowning of the Eagles as Super Bowl Champions was a mere foregone conclusion.
But was a wise man once said, “that’s why they play the games.”
In a second half that felt like a completely different football game, a clearly hobbled Patrick Mahomes, who had limped his way to the locker room after an awkward tackle late in the first half, surgically dissected the stout Philadelphia defence, utilizing seemingly every offensive skill position player that dressed for the game, and by the time the dust settled, the Chiefs had fought their way to a thrilling 38-35 victory.
“I talked a little bit, but it was everybody, it wasn’t like I was the only person talking in that locker room. We just challenged each other to leave everything out there,” Mahomes said about the mood at halftime.
Even as the Chiefs were fighting their way back throughout the second half, it still felt as though the Eagles would have enough to close the deal. The Chiefs came out of halftime seemingly with their hair on fire, knifing down the field on a 10-play drive culminating in an Isiah Pacheco 1-yard touchdown run to cut Philadelphia’s lead to three, 24-21.
But Philadelphia answered right back, taking up more than half a quarter worth of game time on a Super Bowl record-tying 17-play drive. However, the record-long drive stalled inside the red zone, and the Eagles had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Jake Elliott and a 27-21 lead. It was at that moment that you could almost feel the momentum shift. Keeping the Eagles out of the end zone on such a defensively exhausting drive was a huge win for the Chiefs.
They waited the entire first half to grab momentum. They weren’t about to give it back. Mahomes, propelled by what felt like an other-worldly strength and determination, led the Chiefs right back down the field again, connecting four times with wide receiver JuJu-Smith Schuster, capping the drive with a 5-yard touchdown to Kadarius Toney on a brilliantly designed play by offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, where Toney found himself all alone right off the snap and walked into the end zone, and after Harrison Butker connected on the extra point, the Chiefs suddenly found themselves ahead 28-27.
On the ensuing drive, the Eagles finally blinked, going 3-and-out (the only 3-and-out for either team the entire game) as the Kansas City defense broke through on a 3rd and 2 play, chasing Hurts out of the pocket and forcing a throw away. Eagles punter Arryn Siposs followed with a very returnable low line-drive kick fielded by Toney at the Chiefs 30. Toney, who was a New York Giant as recently as September, started left, reversing field almost immediately as two-thirds of the Eagles punt coverage team overcommitted to the left side of the field. Toney turned upfield down the right sideline with a line of blockers in front of him, and by the time he was brought down, he’d returned Siposs’ punt 65 yards to the Eagles 5-yard-line. Three plays later, Mahomes found rookie Skye Moore for a 4-yard touchdown on a mirror image of the Toney touchdown play, ran brilliantly and producing the same result, as Moore was uncovered after a perfectly run clear out by Travis Kelce.
“MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling), JuJu (Smith-Schuster), K.T. (Kadarius Toney), I mean these are all new faces and they just stepped up,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “And they’ve done that all year. And then here comes K.T. into this thing late from the Giants and he has a couple of the biggest plays of the game.”
Now trailing 35-27 with the game starting to slip away, the Eagles regrouped and answered the way championship-level teams do. Hurts drove the Eagles offense to the Chiefs 44, hitting A.J. Brown for a 12-yard gain on a key 3rd-and-5. Hurts then found DeVonta Smith on a blown coverage deep down the left sideline to the Chiefs 2-yard-line. Hurts would score on the next play, and following a successful 2-point conversion, Super Bowl LVII was tied at 35 with less than six minutes to play.
“For him to respond and lead his team right down the football field and run it in himself and the two-point conversion, it was a special performance by him,” Mahomes said.
Gutsy as that drive was for Philadelphia, it set the stage for Mahomes, the game’s eventual MVP, to solidify his status as one of the most legendary quarterbacks the NFL has ever known.
He wasn’t about to let that opportunity slip away.
Mahomes found Smith-Schuster for a quick first down, connected with Kelce on a key seven yard gain that set up a 3rd and 1, on which Pacheco, a 7th round rookie out of Rutgers who ran hard all game long, scampered for 14 yards. Mahomes then followed with the play of the game, slipping through a vicious Eagles pass rush and, high ankle sprain and all, outrunning everyone for a 27-yard gain that set the Chiefs up with a first down at the Eagles 17-yard-line with 2:45 remaining.
“(Mahomes) was the MVP,” Reid said after the game. “That’s all that needs to be said. He was the MVP.”
Now in field goal range, the Chiefs entered clock-control mode, attempting to wind as much time as possible off the clock while forcing Philadelphia to use their two remaining timeouts. Coming out of the two-minute warning, the Eagles stopped Smith-Schuster for a one-yard loss on a failed wide receiver screen, forcing a 3rd-and-8 from the 15-yard-line. Mahomes overthrew Smith-Schuster in the back left of the end zone forcing what would have been a field goal attempt with just under two minutes remaining, but a defensive holding call on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry, who was covering Smith-Schuster on the play, set up the Chiefs with an automatic first down just outside the Eagles 10-yard-line.
“Oh yeah, a hundred percent,” Smith-Schuster said, when asked if the felt the tug from Bradberry that drew the penalty call.
Knowing their only chance was a quick score by Kansas City, the Eagles all but let Jerick McKinnon score on the ensuing play, but McKinnon wisely gave himself up at the two-yard-line. After two kneel downs and the Eagles being forced to burn their remaining timeouts, Butker hit the eventual game-winning field goal with just eight seconds remaining.
“He’s dirty tough,” Reid said, regarding his kicker that had fought through a high ankle sprain of this own during the latter part of the season and into the playoffs. “I’m not going to say ‘tough for a kicker.’ He’s a tough kid.”
After a squib kick that ended at the Eagles’ 36 with six seconds remaining, Hurts bought some time against almost no pass rush and attempted to heave a pass towards the end zone in hopes of a miracle or a pass interference call, but he clearly didn’t get everything on it, as his pass fell harmlessly near the Chiefs’ 20-yard-line with zeros on the clock.
Despite the gut-wrenching loss, Hurts threw for 304 yards and a score while rushing for 70 yards and three more scores, tying the Super Bowl record for rushing touchdowns. He was spectacular throughout, and his performance was not lost on his counterpart.
“If there were any doubters left, there shouldn’t be now,” Mahomes said. “I mean the way he stepped up on this stage and ran, threw the ball, doing whatever it takes for his team to win, that was a special performance. I don’t want it to get lost in the loss that they had. It was a special performance, and make sure you appreciate that when you look back at this game.”
Mahomes finished with 182 yards and three touchdowns, adding 44 rushing yards, while Pacheco rushed for 76 yards, averaging over five yards per carry. Another key to the game, and perhaps most impressive of all, was the Chiefs offensive line, which held the vaunted Eagles defence without a sack, even with a somewhat less-mobile Mahomes behind them.
Coming into the game, the Eagles defence had amassed 78 sacks through the regular season and playoffs, the third most in recorded NFL history.
Social media was abuzz with criticism of the borderline penalty that some say soured the end of an otherwise fantastically entertaining Super Bowl. Kirk Herbstreit tweeted “HATE that defensive holding call on Bradberry,” calling it a “marginal foul.” But FOX NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira insisted the correct call was made in the moment. Bradberry himself admitted after the game it was a hold.
“I was hoping that he would let it go. But of course, he’s a ref. This is a big game. And it was a hold, so they called it.”
“The receiver went to the inside and he was attempting to release to the outside. The defender grabbed the jersey…so we called defensive holding,” referee Carl Cheffers said after the game.
Despite the controversial call, the entertainment value of this game cannot and should not be understated. So often Super Bowls fail to live up to the two weeks of hype that leads up to them, and the pomp and circumstance leading into and during the actual game itself. This was not one of those Super Bowls, and from beginning to end sports fans were treated to very high-level football on both sides of the ball from the two best teams in the NFL. And as football fans, that truly is all we can ask for. We want to see great games between great teams that both fight to the end, an end where it feels almost unfair that someone has to lose.
The Chiefs planted their flag atop the NFL’s hill, taking the proverbial torch from the New England Patriots who dominated the AFC for so long. And the Eagles, with a dynamic young quarterback and elite talent at all levels on both sides of the ball aren’t going anywhere. This team is poised to challenge for the NFC title for years to come.
Super Bowl LVII delivered. That’s a win for all of us.
