Gage Horvath
Contributing Writer
Despite the entirety of the Fox Sports NFL crew predicting the Philadelphia Eagles as the winners of the 57th Super Bowl; the Kansas City Chiefs shocked the sports world by upsetting the Eagles and winning in a nail-bitter fashion of 38 to 35.
Eagles’ offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni’s aggressive play calling style led to an explosive first half performance. Converting 11 of their 18 third down moments into first downs; as well as converting both fourth downs they went for. The teams aggressive first half allowed them to take a 24-14 lead going into halftime.
Along with Sirianni’s tactical play calling, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’s on-the-field performance contributed greatly to this halftime lead and a thrilling Super Bowl. Hurts completed 27 of his 38 passing attempts for a total 304 passing yards and a passing touchdown. He also led the Eagles in total rushing yards and touchdowns, 70 and 3, respectively.
Receivers DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown also led the Eagles in receiving yards each having 100 and 96, respectively.
Unfortunately, the stellar performance by the Eagles was no match for the Kansas City Chiefs and their comeback QB Patrick Mahomes. While his first half performance was nothing to brag about, Mahomes continued to make the necessary adjustments to lead his team to a victory.
Not only that but Mahomes played the entirety of the Super Bowl with a high ankle sprain he sustained earlier in the season, this most definitely affected his early performances, but he played through.
The Chiefs came back from halftime with fire in their eyes ready to play ball. They scored on every possession of the second half and had some very crucial stops on defense, including 2 sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
When it was all said and done, Mahomes had completed 21 of his 27 passes with 182 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns. Running back Isiah Pacheco ended the night with one rushing touchdown and 76 rushing yards and tight end Travis Kelce had 6 receptions in the night for a total of 81 yards and a touchdown.
History was also made during this Super Bowl as Tommy Townsend of the Chiefs returned a punt of 98 yards, the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. At the end of this thrilling match up, Patrick Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP, becoming only the seventh player in NFL history to win the regular season All Press NFL MVP and Superbowl MVP.
Email Gage at:
ghorvath@live.esu.edu