Second-half surge powers Chiefs past Eagles in Super Bowl LVII

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Kansas City Chiefs won another Super Bowl, elevated the statures of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid among the all-time greats and secured major bragging rights within the Kelce family.

In a Super Bowl LVII filled with connections between competitors and carrying historical significance, the Chiefs used a big fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, here Sunday at State Farm Stadium.

Kicker Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left won it. Mahomes had a 26-yard run to set up the winning kick. The Eagles had a key defensive holding penalty, and Chiefs tailback Jerick McKinnon slid down at the 2-yard line when the Philadelphia defense appeared to be trying to allow him to score. Butker’s kick came after two kneel-downs by Mahomes.

Mahomes threw three touchdown passes as part of a superb quarterback duel with the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, who ran for three touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass.

The Chiefs, playing in their third Super Bowl in the past four seasons, won their second championship during that prosperous stretch overseen by Mahomes and Reid.

Mahomes, who appeared to aggravate the high ankle sprain he suffered during the AFC playoffs, added a second Super Bowl triumph in three appearances to the two league most valuable player awards he has amassed in five seasons as the Chiefs’ starter. He became the first league MVP this century to win the Super Bowl in the same season, ending a string of nine straight losses for those players in the big game.

Reid defeated the team that hired him in 1999 and fired him in 2012 amid his family turmoil. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said during the week that the two remain close, and he called Reid a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach. Reid took another step in that direction and now perhaps must decide whether he will exit the sport at a high point.

He turns 65 next month and said during the week that he’s “probably on the shorter end than I am on the longer end of it.” He told Fox before the game that he has “a decision I have to make after this game.” But would he really leave with the 27-year-old Mahomes in his prime and seemingly with more championships to be won?

The Chiefs denied the Eagles what would have been a second Super Bowl title in a span of six seasons. Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman led an organizational reboot in which the Eagles dismissed Doug Pederson, their Super Bowl-winning coach, and dispatched quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Nick Foles in favor of coach Nick Sirianni and Hurts.

The Eagles were the league’s top team for much of the season. They stumbled late in the regular season while Hurts missed two games with a sprained right shoulder but revved things back up with two dominating performances during the NFC playoffs.

They could not secure the most meaningful win of all, however. And now Sirianni faces the prospect of losing his two coordinators to head coaching jobs elsewhere in the coming days. Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen could be in line to be the Indianapolis Colts’ next coach, and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is among the leading candidates for the Arizona Cardinals.

The game was notable for many reasons. Mahomes and Hurts became the first Black quarterbacks to start against each other in a Super Bowl. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce became the first brothers to vie against each other. This Super Bowl week represented a return to a normal, unencumbered schedule and the customary level of grandeur after two years of pandemic-related adjustments and restrictions. Rihanna’s halftime show provided the promise of drawing additional attention from those who are not particularly avid football fans.

During the game, the field conditions were an issue at times, as players slipped on the turf. The Eagles led, 24-14, after a first half in which Hurts had a hand in just about everything. He passed for 183 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 63 yards and two touchdowns. He handed the Chiefs a touchdown with a fumble.

Hurts scored a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak to cap an impressive 11-play game-opening drive by the Eagles. The Chiefs immediately replied with a first-possession touchdown on Mahomes’s perfectly placed 18-yard lob to Kelce. But the Kansas City offense struggled for the rest of the half. Butker missed a 42-yard field goal try. Mahomes managed only 89 first-half passing yards. He limped off the field late in the half after aggravating his injury when Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards tackled him after a scramble.

The Eagles moved in front on Hurts’ 45-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown on the opening play of the second quarter. Brown outmaneuvered Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie with a late adjustment to the ball. The Chiefs pulled even with a touchdown on defense. Linebacker Nick Bolton scooped up the ball and raced 36 yards to the end zone. Hurts simply dropped the ball on a quarterback draw.

The Eagles scored the final 10 points of the half. They converted on a fourth-and-five gamble by Sirianni from the Kansas City 44-yard line with a 28-yard dash by Hurts, leading to his four-yard touchdown run. A 22-yard completion from Hurts to Brown set up a 35-yard field goal by kicker Jake Elliott as time expired in the half.

Mahomes was back on the field for the third quarter and the Chiefs drove to a 1-yard touchdown run by rookie tailback Isiah Pacheco. Their defense nearly had a second fumble-return touchdown on a catch by Eagles tailback Miles Sanders, but the play was reversed to an incompletion via an instant replay review. The Eagles had another replay ruling go their way – on a catch by tight end Dallas Goedert along the sideline – en route to a 33-yard field goal by Elliott.

The Chiefs grabbed their first lead of the night, at 28-27, on Mahomes’s five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kadarius Toney with just more than 12 minutes remaining. A 65-yard punt return by Toney, the former first-round draft choice by the New York Giants whom the Chiefs obtained in a late-October trade, set up Mahomes’s 4-yard touchdown pass to uncovered rookie wideout Skyy Moore.

The Eagles pulled even at 35 with a little more than five minutes to play. Hurts’ 45-yard completion to wide receiver DeVonta Smith set up another quarterback-sneak touchdown. Hurts also ran into the end zone for the two-point conversion.