They were among the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl for the entire season. Now, the Kansas City Chiefs are the Super Bowl champions. They defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on Sunday thanks in large part to a strong second half, one where they outscored the Eagles 24-11.
The game came down to a final drive with the score notched at 35. On Philadelphia's final possession, they scored both a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game. Then it was Patrick Mahomes and KC's turn to answer.
Controversial penalty call marred the game a little - but shouldn't
The game, unfortunately, may be remembered for a late penalty call on James Bradberry. On third down and with KC deep, Philadelphia's Bradberry may have held a KC receiver. Then again, maybe it should have been a no-call. The penalty awarded KC a first down and they were able to milk the clock until the waning seconds before kicking what would be the game-winning field goal.
But Philadelphia will mainly rue the fact that they were 24-14 at the half and did not close the deal out. The Super Bowl really seemed to be there for the taking, especially when KC's quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, started to limp around and wince in pain with his bad ankle. Everything seemed to be aligning and another Super Bowl appeared to be going Philadelphia's way.
Half-time adjustments were the true story
What happened during the long half-time show in the locker rooms? Stands to reason that one man had some adjustments to make: Andy Reid. The Chiefs came out of half-time cooking, they scored a TD on their opening drive, held Philadelphia to 3, then scored a TD again to take the lead. The game need not be boiled down to a debate about a penalty: this game was about half-time adjustments.
Andy Reid did his legacy a big favor. Appearing in his fourth Super Bowl, a record of 2-2 is a lot better than 1-3. What resulted was also a victory that adds to Patrick Mahomes' legacy. He won his second Super Bowl and consolidated his status as the best QB of his generation.
Mahomes took the MVP. Jalen Hurts took his lumps. He had three touchdowns in the game and a gutsy successful rush on a two-point conversion. Some will tag him as "unable to win the big game" for sure. But in many ways, it was the Philadelphia defense that came up short in the second half as the 2022/23 NFL season came to a conclusion.
