Super Bowl LIX Smackdown

By: Tomas McDermott and Max Pollio

Every year it feels like America loses in the Super Bowl matchup. People were hoping for a Bills vs. Commanders Super Bowl, but very few wanted a Chiefs-Eagles matchup. The Kansas City Chiefs had not just won Super Bowl 58 over the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 on a game-winning OT touchdown, but they had gone back-to-back after winning a thriller against the same Eagles, 38-35. Needless to say, not many were excited for another Chiefs Super Bowl, with Taylor Swift there to support Travis Kelce. While Patrick Mahomes seemed poised to challenge Tom Brady in the GOAT debate, this would be his fourth Super Bowl victory, all before even turning 30-years-old. On the other side stood the Philadelphia Eagles, whom many supported solely due to their hatred of the Chiefs. Running back Saquon Barkley, whom the Eagles snatched away from their division “rival," the NY Giants, had gone on to nearly break the single-season rushing record of 2105 with 2005 yards of his own, even with missing week 18 of the season to rest for the impending playoffs. Led by QB Jalen Hurts, who was ready to avenge the Eagles’ past failures in Super Bowl 57, the Eagles seemed as possibly the best team to counter the Chiefs, with Josh Allen’s Bills falling to Kansas City in the Conference Championship 32-29. The surprising Commanders with rookie Jayden Daniels at the helm seemed like a contender to take down Philly, but a curb stomp of Washington 55-23 ended all hopes of a new, intriguing matchup.

Quarter 1:

The Chiefs kicked the ball off to start the game, leading to a touchback. Starting at their 30-yard line, the Eagles were driving until a 4th and 2 at the 50. Hurts threw a deep bomb to wide receiver AJ Brown, and they connected at the Chiefs 18. However, there was a flag on Brown, for offensive pass interference. Although some of the broadcasters disagreed with the flags, the Chiefs were bound to get a call or two. The Eagles punted, and the Chiefs punted back soon after. At their own 31, the Eagles started to drive thanks to a 20-yard pass to tight end Dallas Goedert and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie. At Kansas City’s 27, Hurts threw a deep pass to receiver Jahan Dotson at the 1. The Eagles then used their famed tush push, where the entire offense pushes Hurts across the goal line, for their first touchdown. 7-0 Eagles. The Chiefs went 3 and out after, with the Eagle's defense creating immense pressure on Mahomes. With the ball back, the Eagles started to drive with some pass plays, until Hurts made his first big mistake of the game. With 14:21 left in the second quarter, Hurts underthrew Brown by 5 yards, leading to Chiefs safety Bryan Cook picking him off. 

Quarter 2:

The Chiefs, following Cook’s interception in their half, looked to finally have some life in their offense after putting up a whopping 0 points in the first quarter. However, a dropped pass by Travis Kelce forced the Chiefs to punt in what could’ve been a promising drive. A 22-yard gain from Hurts to Brown highlighted the next drive by Philly, where they capitalized on their lead further with kicker Jake Elliott’s leg for a field goal, and their lead increased to 10-0. The Chiefs were beginning to sweat, and it showed in their offensive line, who allowed 2 straight sacks to set the Chiefs offense up with a 3rd and 16. Mahomes followed it up with a not so “Mahomie” type play, as a pass intended for DeAndre Hopkins ended in the arms of Eagles rookie cornerback, Cooper DeJean, which he took to the house for a 38-yard pick 6 to make it 17-0. A 7-yard sack given up by the Chiefs offensive line concluded with another 3 and out, and the Chiefs punted once again. The first half was close to finishing with just 4:49 to play, but a long drive by the Eagles amounted to nothing, and Kansas City got the ball back with 1:59 to play. An immediate pick by Zack Baun at the Chief's own 14 ended Mahomes’ and Chiefs’ lackluster first half, with a total of 2 picks and 0 points. A short pass to AJ Brown resulted in another TD for Philly, which brought the score to a near blowout at 24-0.

Halftime

The Halftime Show was headlined by Kendrick Lamar, with his performance attracting a record 133.5 million viewers, making it the most in Super Bowl history. His performance featured guest appearances by SZA, Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, performing hits like “DNA”, “HUMBLE”, and the grammy-winning “Not Like Us”, a diss track aimed to Drake. However, there were some mixed reviews, as a lot of viewers felt the performance was underwhelming, and some felt that New Orleans native Lil Wayne should have performed instead, seeing that the Super Bowl was in New Orleans. 

Quarter 3:

The Chiefs received the ball after the half and punted quickly due to 2 sacks from nose tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Josh Sweat. The Eagles went on a long drive from their own 20, with key plays coming from Hurts scrambling and a 20-yard Barkley reception. Down to the Chiefs 4, after 2 Saquon runs, they were facing a 3rd and Goal from the Chiefs 6-yard line. Hurts threw an incompletion, and on fourth down they went for the field goal, making it a 27-0 ballgame. With little hope left for the Chiefs, they tried to string together a couple of plays so they could even have a shot. Faced with a 4th and 4 from their own 47, they went for it, but a pass intended for Hopkins was swatted down by cornerback Avonte Maddox. On the Eagle's first play, Hurts threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Devonta Smith, making it 34-0 Eagles. With the Chief's hope of winning gone, now they wanted to statpad. Mahomes threw a 50-yard deep ball to rookie Xavier Worthy to the Eagles 40. After a Mahomes scramble for a first down, Worthy scored the Chief's first touchdown of the game. However, they failed the 2-point attempt, making it a 34-6 game. 

Quarter 4:

At this point it was garbage time in what was a supposed juggernaut matchup, everyone kept waiting for a Chiefs comeback or resurgence that just never came. A 7-minute drive capped off with another field goal by Elliott made the score 37-6. An immediate sack that led to a fumble by Mahomes was recovered by Philly, and another 50-yarder by Elliott made it a 34-point deficit for Kansas City, 40-6. A deep pass intended for Hopkins was picked off by CJ Gardner-Johnson, but it was brought back after Jalen Carter was penalized for being offside. The Eagles were putting in their backups at this point, preparing for their own Super Bowl celebration, as a Mahomes touchdown pass to Hopkins made it 40-14 following the 2-point conversion. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett was in for the Eagles, and they turned it over on downs to bring it to the 2-minute warning. A 50-yard dime to Xavier Worthy from Mahomes made the score closer than the contest was in actuality, at 40-22. Pickett kneeled 3 straight times to run out the clock, and once again, after defeating Tom Brady and the Patriots way back in 2018, Philly had finished the job against the very team who eliminated them just 2 years ago.

Jalen Hurts won Super Bowl MVP, with a stat line of 3 total touchdowns, 221 passing yards, 71 rushing yards, and one interception, with a somewhat strong performance. Some believed that it should have been Cooper DeJean, as he gained momentum for the Eagles to gain the lead thanks to his pick-six. After this performance, Mahomes’ legacy has been tarnished slightly, as he is now 3-2 in the big game, with his other loss coming to Tom Brady’s Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. By no means is he still not an incredible quarterback, but this game has shown what happens to the Chiefs when they don’t have the referees favoring them significantly, and their other devil magic. Whomever you may support, there is one thing we should all be grateful for: the Cowboys have now gone 30 years without making an NFC Championship.