CHIEFS WIN SUPER BOWL 57!

THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS ARE SUPER BOWL 57 CHAMPIONS! For the second time in four years, Kansas City hoists the Lombardi behind the stellar play from their MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes. What a game, and what a season. In sad news, my insane bad beat streak of picking Super Bowls CONTINUES and now is at NINE in a row of picking the wrong winner for the big game...crazy...

Game Recap:

The Chiefs won this game, and finish the year as Super Bowl champions, but this win was not one that looked like it usually does for this team. The Chiefs are used to being the team sitting on the lead and trying to hold onto it, not the other way around. Yet, the Eagles were the ones who got out to a blazing start and took hold of this game from the get-go. The Eagles came out hot as usual and marched down the field on one of their classic, LONNNGG and time consuming opening drives. Jalen Hurts rushed into the endzone and the Eagles were up just like that. However, KC answered right back. Mahomes took his team all the way down the field and capped off a balanced drive with a classic over the shoulder Travis Kelce TD to knot it at 7. 

That did not scare the Eagles one bit. Hurts launched a 45-yard bomb to AJ Brown for a TD on the next drive, putting Philly up 14-7. Then, the Eagles forced a KC punt and got the ball back up a score. Hurts then made an uncharacteristic mistake, basically dropping the ball on a QB run and letting KC LB Nick Bolton scoop it up and run it back 36 yards for a score, knotting the game once again. After that though, things would go Philly's way all the way til half. KC missed a 40 yard kick to go up and so then Philly answered that with a second Jalen Hurts rushing TD and then a Jake Elliott field goal to end the half and go up 24-14 at half.

After this all Eagles first half, a hobbled Patrick Mahomes was not ready to throw in the towel. And we all should have known. Going into this Super Bowl, teams were 1-26 when down 10+ points at half...

The Chiefs came out on a tear, unleashing a balanced 75 yard scoring drive on 10 plays that was capped with an Isiah Pacheco one-yard TD run. Philly tried to recapture some of their first half offensive magic, but they saw a 17-play, 60 yard drive end in a field goal for them to put the score at 27-21, still leading.

This is when the Chiefs really took over. A 9-play, 75 yard drive from Mahomes set up a 5 yard TD pass to Kadarius Toney, where he was wide open uncovered. Then after a subsequent 3 & out from Philly, the same Toney returned the punt a Super Bowl RECORD 65 yards and went down at the 5 yard line, where Mahomes quickly threw another TD, this time to rookie Skyy Moore and put the Chiefs up 35-27. With about 9 minutes to play, this is where legacies are made, and Jalen Hurts answered the bell. He commanded his team on a 75 yard drive, with clutch catches by Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith to set up a THIRD rushing TD for Hurts. Then Hurts ran it in again from 2 yards out for a game tying two point conversion.

35-35. 5 minutes to go in the Super Bowl. Chiefs had the ball. This is what Patrick Mahomes lives for, and he got his chance to take the final shot once again. On a methodical, time DRAINING drive, Mahomes (with great help from Pacheco, Kelce, Smith-Schuster, and co.) led the Chiefs right down into field goal range with a chance to take a shot at the game-winning kick for a Super Bowl title. 3rd & 8, 1:54 to go, ball at the PHI 15, this was the game. Mahomes threw the ball into the corner of the endzone which was over the head of Juju Smith for a 4th down, forcing the Chiefs to settle for a FG and give the Eagles a shot to potentially go down and tie or win the game. NOPE. The KC refs struck again! One of the worst calls in NFL history went down, as the refs flagged Eagle CB James Bradberry for a 'defensive holding' (which just didn't happen) which gifted KC a fresh set of downs and let them melt away the rest of the clock before taking the GW-FG attempt with seconds to go. Harrison Butker hit it, Chiefs 38, Eagles 35, and that was all she wrote. 

This was an all-time, instant classic Super Bowl, but it was horrendous that it ended that way. The refs had not called the defensive holding that they gave to the Chiefs there at the end the whole game, so it is ludicrous to call it there. Sure, Bradberry touched Juju's jersey, but there was obviously no hold. Just insane that the season was decided off a penalty. Let them play! OT would have been amazing in this game. This game could have gone either way, and I'm not saying the Chiefs didn't deserve it, but they did not deserve to get the win handed to them at the end. It hurts especially bad when the Chiefs had some fishy reffing to win the AFC title game just a few weeks back. The NFL has some serious work to do this off-season with officiating, which was a brutal mess this season.

Regardless, the Chiefs are Super Bowl champs! Patrick Mahomes has cemented himself as one of the all-time greats already, and he's just 27 years old! He becomes only the 4th QB in NFL HISTORY to win 2+ MVPs and 2+ Super Bowls. I'm sure more are to come in both of those departments. For the Eagles, what a run it was this season. This team was so dominant all year, and they looked the part in this game too. Jalen Hurts is truly a special player and will be paid like it this off-season. While they might not be able to bring back everyone due to paying guys like Hurts, Philly should probably still be the heavy favorite in the NFC to return the Super Bowl next season. They are just getting started. What a win for the Chiefs, and now onto the off-season...

Notable players who received their first Super Bowl rings: Creed Humphrey (C), Carlos Dunlap (DE), Juju Smith-Schuster (WR), Isiah Pacheco (RB), Nick Bolton (LB), Orlando Brown Jr. (OT), Trey Smith (OG), Justin Reid (S)

Chiefs MVPs:

-*Patrick Mahomes, QB: 21-27 passing for 187 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs | 6 carries, 44 yards rushing

-Isiah Pacheco, RB: 15 carries for 76 yards, 1 TD rushing

-Nick Bolton, LB: 9 tackles, 1 fumble returned for 36-yard TD

-Kadarius Toney, WR/PR: 1 catch for 5 yard TD | 65-yard punt return (Super Bowl record)

-Travis Kelce, TE: 6 receptions for 81 yards, 1 TD receiving

Eagles MVPs:

-Jalen Hurts, QB: 27-38 passing for 304 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs | 15 carries, 70 yards, 3 TDs rushing

-Devonta Smith, WR: 7 receptions for 100 yards receiving

-AJ Brown, WR: 6 receptions for 96 yards, 1 TD receiving

-Dallas Goedert, TE: 6 receptions for 60 yards receiving

-Javon Hargrave, DT: 5 total tackles, 1 for loss

* = Mahomes won the actual Super Bowl MVP award, the second of his career