There is a possibility that the city of Philadelphia sold its soul to the devil for the Phillies to finally make the playoffs. Three Philadelphia major league teams have appeared in the finals and all three lost those matchups, becoming the first city to ever suffer such a fate. In the span of 99 days, I watched both a World Series title and a Super Bowl get snatched from the grasp of my favorite teams. But because I was told that I would be fired by Nathan Kornfeind if I didn’t write it, through gritted teeth, here is The Lafayette’s recap of the Super Bowl.
The game started fast, with the Eagles marching right down the field and scoring on a Jalen Hurts QB sneak. Kansas City responded quickly with an incredible throw from Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce for a 17-yard touchdown.
With the game knotted at seven, the defenses finally got off the bus, holding each opposing team’s explosive offense scoreless for the remainder of the quarter. On just the second play of the second quarter, wide receiver A. J. Brown snuck past the Kansas City safety and found green grass just as Hurts hit him in stride for a 45-yard touchdown.
The Chiefs tied it back up when their defense returned to the field, as they ran back a Hurt’s fumble for a touchdown. However, the Birds didn’t make another mistake for the rest of the half, adding another 10 points before heading into the break. The biggest story heading into halftime, however, was that it appeared that Mahomes had reinjured his ankle on the Chiefs’ last offensive play of the half.
Then Rihanna took the stage. I know my strengths. Analyzing the singing and dancing of a halftime show is not one of them. So, all I will say is I liked the medley. I thought it was cool how she essentially had all of her hits and not just her five biggest ones. I also think a guest would have been cool but overall, I liked it.
Then came the second half. The Eagles should have just stayed in the locker room.
The Chiefs came out on fire, moving quickly down the field and scoring to reduce the Philadelphia lead to just three. The Eagles were able to add a field goal, but the Chiefs took their first lead of the game on their next drive with more wizardry from Mahomes who seemed to almost be playing better than he did before his first-half injury.
The Eagles punted on their next possession and wider receiver Kadarius Toney returned it all the way to the 5-yard line, after which the Chiefs scored easily.
Hurts led the Birds down the field one more time, scoring both the touchdown and the following two-point conversion. The game was now tied at 35.
Mahomes got the ball, poised to put the Chiefs in front. With two minutes left on a third and eight, Patrick Mahomes overthrew wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, but it was called back to what most people can agree was a debatable holding call on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry. It gave the Chiefs a first down and the Eagles had no timeouts. Mahomes knelt three times and Harrison Butker kicked through the game-winning field goal. The Chiefs won fair and square, I guess.
