Last Sunday at 5:30 CT, the US’s biggest sporting event of the year kicked off. Super Bowl LIX was a rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs, who were going for history with a ‘three-peat’ in Super Bowl wins in the modern era and the Eagles, led by quarterback Jaylen Hurts, who were out for redemption after defeat in Super Bowl LVII. Ultimately, the match led to disappointment for Kansas City fans, myself included, who were hoping to see Mahomes and the team victorious. Afterwards Philly fans famously celebrated all night back in their home city.
Immediately in the first half, it quickly became obvious that the Chiefs had made little to no adjustments to their playing style for the postseason. Throughout this season, the Chiefs had been winning games, yet they were ugly wins, often with extremely close scores that demonstrated KC’s biggest drawbacks. This one-dimensional offense with a lack of a running game reared its ugly head continuously throughout the first half, with many of the offensive players, like Isiah Pacheco (#10), unable to find running room. The Eagles’ crushing defense took advantage of the weak offense and put constant pressure on Mahomes causing an uptick in mistakes that we normally don’t see from the 3 time Super Bowl champion. In the second quarter alone, Mahomes was sacked 3 times and threw 2 interceptions. One interception led to a beautiful pick-six by Cooper DeJean (#33), while the other was thrown only 15 yards from the Chiefs endzone and led to another Eagle touchdown. On the other hand, Philadelphia continually showed that they had the superior offense, and throughout the first half made great running plays. Their offensive line is the largest in the League with an average height of 6’5” and weight of 337lbs. Hurts (#1) was able to control the tempo with good protection and a good running game. Its safe to say that since the Eagles picked up running back Barkley (#26) they have proven their offense can excel and it showed clearly throughout the entire game. The half ended with a score of 0-24 with Eagles in the lead.
While many fans, including myself, were holding out hope that the Chiefs could come back after halftime, they being a team that excels in the second half, the start of the third quarter did not make it seem likely. The Eagles extended their lead by scoring both a field goal and an amazing touchdown with Hurts easily finding the open DeVonta Smith (#6). However, as time went on the Kansas City offensive began finding their footing. Mahomes began to find holes in the Philadelphia defense and started to throw smarter passes and eventually threw a very nice 24 yard touchdown to everybody’s favorite rookie (and my personal favorite player) Xavier Worthy (#1).
While everyone’s eyes were on the offense and their respective quarterbacks throughout the game, the contributions of the defense should not be ignored. Eagles defense did a great job stifling the Chiefs’ offense and managed to sack Mahomes a total of 6 times, a career-high for him. The pressure led to several interceptions and incompletes. The Kansas City defense provided another stark contrast to the Eagles. They rushed often but still struggled to find weaknesses in their opponent and exploit them. They also struggled to make simple tackles in the open field.
After the third quarter, it was pretty obvious that the Chiefs were not going to get the legendary three-peat. However, in typical Chiefs fashion, they impressively began to get back on their feet. While the Eagles immediately scored two field goals from Jake Elliot (#4), the Chief defensive held them and Philly never scored the rest of the games. Mahomes picked apart the 4th quarter Prevent Defense and threw a touchdown to Hopkins and then completed a nice two point conversion. Mahomes then threw a long hail mary that was caught by Worthy who ran it for a 70 yard touchdown.
Immediately in the first half, it quickly became obvious that the Chiefs had made little to no adjustments to their playing style for the postseason. Throughout this season, the Chiefs had been winning games, yet they were ugly wins, often with extremely close scores that demonstrated KC’s biggest drawbacks. This one-dimensional offense with a lack of a running game reared its ugly head continuously throughout the first half, with many of the offensive players, like Isiah Pacheco (#10), unable to find running room. The Eagles’ crushing defense took advantage of the weak offense and put constant pressure on Mahomes causing an uptick in mistakes that we normally don’t see from the 3 time Super Bowl champion. In the second quarter alone, Mahomes was sacked 3 times and threw 2 interceptions. One interception led to a beautiful pick-six by Cooper DeJean (#33), while the other was thrown only 15 yards from the Chiefs endzone and led to another Eagle touchdown. On the other hand, Philadelphia continually showed that they had the superior offense, and throughout the first half made great running plays. Their offensive line is the largest in the League with an average height of 6’5” and weight of 337lbs. Hurts (#1) was able to control the tempo with good protection and a good running game. Its safe to say that since the Eagles picked up running back Barkley (#26) they have proven their offense can excel and it showed clearly throughout the entire game. The half ended with a score of 0-24 with Eagles in the lead.
While many fans, including myself, were holding out hope that the Chiefs could come back after halftime, they being a team that excels in the second half, the start of the third quarter did not make it seem likely. The Eagles extended their lead by scoring both a field goal and an amazing touchdown with Hurts easily finding the open DeVonta Smith (#6). However, as time went on the Kansas City offensive began finding their footing. Mahomes began to find holes in the Philadelphia defense and started to throw smarter passes and eventually threw a very nice 24 yard touchdown to everybody’s favorite rookie (and my personal favorite player) Xavier Worthy (#1).
While everyone’s eyes were on the offense and their respective quarterbacks throughout the game, the contributions of the defense should not be ignored. Eagles defense did a great job stifling the Chiefs’ offense and managed to sack Mahomes a total of 6 times, a career-high for him. The pressure led to several interceptions and incompletes. The Kansas City defense provided another stark contrast to the Eagles. They rushed often but still struggled to find weaknesses in their opponent and exploit them. They also struggled to make simple tackles in the open field.
After the third quarter, it was pretty obvious that the Chiefs were not going to get the legendary three-peat. However, in typical Chiefs fashion, they impressively began to get back on their feet. While the Eagles immediately scored two field goals from Jake Elliot (#4), the Chief defensive held them and Philly never scored the rest of the games. Mahomes picked apart the 4th quarter Prevent Defense and threw a touchdown to Hopkins and then completed a nice two point conversion. Mahomes then threw a long hail mary that was caught by Worthy who ran it for a 70 yard touchdown.
After that big play, the game was over. Green and white confetti rained down announcing the new Super Bowl champions by a score of 40-22. In the end, while it wasn’t the most exciting Super Bowl, it clearly showed the impressive skills and faults of each team while also showing us that both had a lot of potential to look forward to next season.
