The highly anticipated–and ultimately disappointing–game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles was played on Sunday, February 9, marking the end of the NFL season.
Kansas City had a home-field advantage during their path to the Super Bowl because they had the number-one seed. In their first game, played on January 18, the Chiefs beat the Houston Texans by a final score of 23-14. This game was close until the fourth quarter when the Chiefs ran away with the game after an interception thrown by CJ Stroud and outscored Houston by 10 points. Next, KC played against the Buffalo Bills on January 26 and won in nail-biting fashion: some questionable calls that went the Chiefs’ way led to a final score 32-29, securing them a spot in the Super Bowl.
On the other side of the bracket, the Eagles had a dominant run to the Super Bowl, beating an injured Packers team 22-10 on January 12 when several Packers starters–including wide receivers Christain Watson (WR1) and Jayden Reed (WR2), all-pro offensive lineman Elton Jenkins, and star edge rusher Quay Walker–all exited the game by the fourth quarter. Next, in the divisional round on January 19, the Eagles beat the Rams in a snowy game where running back Saquon Barkley had an incredible game with 206 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Ultimately, the Eagles won 28-22. In the semifinal game on January 26, the Eagles beat the Commanders, whom they had played twice before in the regular season. Since the Eagles won one of those games, it was a tossup as to who would win, but the Eagles brought home a W with a final score of 55-23.
In the big game itself, played in New Orleans, the Eagles dominated the first two quarters with a 24-0 lead going into halftime. Led by Quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had one of the best Super Bowl performances in recent memory, completing 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, Hurts had a rushing touchdown and accumulated 72 rushing yards, breaking the record (previously set by him in 2023) for the most rushing yards gained by a quarterback in a Super Bowl. His top-tier playmaking led him to be named MVP of Super Bowl LIX.
As for Kansas City, there isn’t all that much to report since they didn’t score until the third quarter. In the second half–with the game practically over–the Chiefs strung together a couple of scoring drives with rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy putting together a great stat line for himself with 8 receptions,157 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns. It was not enough, though, and the Eagles decisively won.
Although the Chiefs’ poor play certainly helped, the biggest reason for the Eagles’ victory was their stifling defense. Without blitzing the quarterback once, the Eagles defense forced three interceptions (one resulting in a defensive touchdown), a fumble, and a fumble recovery. In addition, the Eagles had six sacks on QB Patrick Mahomes, making it the most times he has ever been sacked in a postseason game. This brought up the question postgame if the secret to beating the former back-to-back champions was pressuring their quarterback.
Probably the most interesting part of this year’s Super Bowl was Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance, which set a new viewership record by bringing in 133.5 million viewers, surpassing the average 126 million. During his performance, there were surprise guest appearances by SZA (who sang “All the Stars”) and Serena Williams (who danced to “Not Like Us”). During his performance, Kendrick Lamar played a few classic songs but more songs from his new album such as “Humble,” “DNA,” and “Squabble Up.” These received mixed reactions, as many fans wanted to hear Lamar’s classic songs.
Although the halftime show and Super Bowl game may have not lived up to expectations, football fans should not be saddened, as the NFL Draft is in just two months, so we can look forward to exciting football news soon.
