Super Bowl LVII featured one of the most evenly matched games in history. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles were both top seeds in their conference, posted identical records, and scored the same number of points during the season. The game also was the first that two brothers (Jason and Travis Kelce) facing off against each other.
While the field conditions with the new turf were atrocious with players on both teams slipping and sliding around the field, the game was exciting and came down to the final seconds. Philadelphia took a 24-14 lead at the half, in large part due to Jalen Hurts, who connected with AJ Brown on a 45-yard touchdown and also rushed for two scores. As great as Hurts was, he also contributed to one of the Chiefs’ two first half touchdowns, fumbling in on his own, which resulted in a defensive recovery and score.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was playing on an injured ankle which was tweaked in the first half. The Chiefs made great half time adjustments and the Eagles defense did not counter in the second half. It was all Mahomes and Kansas City in the fourth quarter. Down 27-21, the Chiefs scored on two Mahomes’ touchdown passes to go ahead 35-27. The Eagles came back for the tying score on a Hurts 2-yard run and successful two-point conversion.
Playing an inexplicably soft defense on Kansas City’s next possession, the Chiefs drove down the field. On an apparent fourth-down stop with 1:54 to go which would force a field goal attempt, Eagles’ James Bradberry was called for a controversial holding penalty. That set up the game-winning field goal by Harrison Butker with eight seconds left.
The Chiefs 38-35 victory was their second in the last four seasons. Patrick Mahomes threw for three touchdown passes and was named MVP. Although the Eagles lost, Jalen Hurts arguably could have won the honors, passing for 304 yards, rushing for 70 yards and four total touchdowns.
The Chiefs are early favorites for repeating as Super Bowl champions, while the Eagles are in the mix with fifth-best odds.
Featured Image: Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.
