NEWSLETTER
How do you make that call at a time like that. I just … wow. The refs took what looked like it was about to be an absolutely CLASSIC Super Bowl and just ruined it. They sucked all the fun out of it. They didn’t let Patrick Mahomes truly earn it (even though he did). And they breathed new life into bogus claims of “scripted” football. That sucks. This sucks.
Anyway, here’s what happened in case you missed the fun (or turned it off after Rihanna).
I said all week that the Eagles would jump out to a lead and lean on the Chiefs. I was only half right. Philadelphia jumped out to a lead, with Jalen Hurts sneaking one in for a touchdown to make it 7-0 Eagles on the opening drive. But the Chiefs had an answer for the Eagles every step of the way. And on their first drive in response, Patrick Mahomes marched down the field and hooked up with Travis Kelce for a game-tying touchdown. Mahomes to Kelce … who would have guessed it, right?
The first half marched on with score after score.
But the Eagles took a 24-14 lead into the half. Philadelphia led the Eagles the Chiefs 17-6 in first downs. They led 270-128 in total yards. The time of possession was all Philadelphia, 21:54, 8:06. The Eagles owned the first half in almost every phase.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs came out of the half with an answer. A 10-play, 75-yard drive by Mahomes and the Chiefs made it a field goal game. Kansas City wasn’t going to roll over.
Even after the Eagles answered with a field goal, Kansas City had an answer. The Chiefs followed with a nine-play, 70-yard drive for a go-ahead touchdown. Patrick Mahomes found Kadarius Toney for a five-yard touchdown to give Kansas City a lead 28-27.
After Philly’s first three and out, Kadarious Toney’s record-setting punt return touchdown set the Chiefs up. Then, Patrick Mahomes found Skyy More for a wide-open touchdown to take a 35-27 lead. The Chiefs were rolling at that point and outscoring the Eagles 14-0 in the fourth quarter and 21-7 in the second half. The Eagles tied the game with a Jalen Hurts touchdown but the Chiefs second-half surge was too much for Philadelphia.
Patrick Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field … with the aforementioned help from the referees (as well as some legitimately gutsy runs for a clearly injured Mahomes) for a game-winning field goal by Harrison Butker. The Butker field goal gave the Chiefs a second Super Bowl win in the Reid-Mahomes era. It was a disappointing ending to what was otherwise a fantastic game.
Michael Cerami contributed to this post.
