NFL Super Bowl Recap
Ryan D’Amico
Staff Writer
One of the most entertaining sports events of the year is always the Super Bowl and this year lived up to the high expectations. Headlines of the game include Patrick Mahomes now being considered one of the greatest to ever play the game, to the Philadelphia Eagles defense collapsing, and the specialty of Andy Reid’s plays along with many more objectives. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles played a tremendous game going back and forth at each other. But with the Chiefs coming out the victor 38-35 and Patrick Mahomes winning Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP). there is a lot to go over including the game-ending holding call against the Eagles and the lackluster defense from the Eagles.
The first half showed dominance from the Eagles with their lead being 24-14. They did a great job using their number one ranked in the league offensive line on fourth down conversions to get some much-needed yards on the QB sneak. Jalen Hurts most likely could’ve won MVP if Philly had won with over 300 yards passing with one passing TD but had 70 rushing yards to three rushing touchdowns. Something that was surprising was how little they used their running backs, Hurts combined to have just as many carries and more yards than all three of them (Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott). But their star receivers came to play. DeVonta Smith had 7 catches for 100 yards, A.J. Brown had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown and Dallas Goedert with six catches and 60 yards. The Eagles defense had some good plays and stops but overall didn’t live up to what they were all season.
Patrick Mahomes had another great Super Bowl with only 182 yards but 3 touchdowns. Overall, the Chiefs came out ready and played amazing. The defense stepped up with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and did not allow any sacks against the number two defense and record for most defensive lineman sacks in a season. Their offense was rolling, Travis Kelce played greatly throughout every possession over the game having one touchdown and 81 yards on an average of 13 yards per catch. Seventh round rookie Isiah Pacheco had the game of his life having a touchdown, 76 yards with an average of five yards per carry. Kadarius Toney had the return of the year with a 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter and the Chiefs were only up by one. He returned it to the 10-yard line and later scoring a receiving touchdown on the drive. The defensive play greatly too putting a lot of pressure on Jalen Hurts against the number one offensive line in the league.
This Super Bowl was one of the greatest in the last decade due to the high scoring, exciting fourth down plays, returns, and unique touchdowns. Both teams play the best football we have seen from them all year. Some people will say the holding call at the end of the game on the Eagles defense was a bad call and it ruined the game, others will disagree, but it looked to be the right call with even James Bradberry admitting he committed a penalty. Coming towards the end of the game in the fourth quarter is where Andy Reid really shined. With the two play calls throughout the game on the in and out routes to pull in two more touchdowns.
Contact Ryan at ryan.damico@student.shu.edu