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Kansas City Chiefs Win Super Bowl

 

Chiefs offensive stars Travis Kelce (left) and Patrick Mahomes celebrate the Super Bowl victory.

It was kind of an anticlimactic finish to what was one of the most exciting Super Bowls in recent memory, but the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35 to win Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona as Harrison Butker made a 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining following a controversial holding penalty against the Eagles defense on a third down incomplete pass with 1:48 left to go in the fourth quarter that gave the Chiefs a first-and-goal. 

 

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the Most Valuable Player for the game, had a key 26-yard run in the final drive to help set up the game winning kick. Mahomes passed for three touchdowns and 182 yards and also ran for 44 yards in the win while running back Isiah Pacheco had a scoring run (one yard) and 76 rushing yards. In addition, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce hauled in six receptions for 81 yards, including an 18-yard scoring catch that tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter.

The Eagles built a 24-14 halftime lead as QB Jalen Hurts, who scored three rushing touchdowns and also had a touchdown pass and 304 passing yards, scored twice on the ground and hooked up with wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 45-yard score. Kicker Jake Elliott made a 35-yard field goal as the first half ended. A big play for the Kansas City defense occurred with 9:39 left in the second quarter when Hurts fumbled the football and Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton scooped it up and ran 36 yards for the tying touchdown at 14-14. Hurts would score again on a four-yard run to make it 21-14 with 2:20 remaining in the half. 

The second half was all Kansas City as they outscored the Eagles, 24-11 with Pacheco scoring his touchdown to cut the deficit to 24-21. Elliott made another field goal for Philly (27-21 lead) with 1:45 left in the third quarter. Then in the final quarter, Kansas City scored two straight touchdowns to get a 35-27 lead as Mahomes threw a pair of scoring passes. Kadarius Toney set up the easy TD drive for K.C. with a Super Bowl record 65-yard punt return to the Eagles' five-yard line.

 But Philadelphia battled back and Hurts scored his third TD of the game on a two-yard run and also ran in for the two-point conversion to tie the game 35-35 with 5:15 remaining. From there, the Chiefs put together the game winning drive (13 plays, 66 yards) with the defensive holding call factoring in late on the incomplete pass that would have resulted in a fourth down and certain field goal try with nearly two minutes left to play. But regardless, the Chiefs got it done and battled back from a ten-point deficit against one of the league's best defenses, which included not allowing a sack to an Eagles team that 70 quarterback sacks in the regular season. 

 

 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS - SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS !

SUPER BOWL PREVIEW

Super Bowl LVII is set to be played on Sunday, February 12 between the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona. 

Both teams finished the regular season with 14-3 records and the number-one seed in their conferences. The Chiefs won a thriller in the AFC title game against the Cincinnati Bengals to get to their third Super Bowl in the last four seasons. Meanwhile, the Eagles have been rolling, winning by 38-7 and 31-7 scores in their two playoff games to get to this point. Philly won it all back in 2017 and the Chiefs won their second ever Super Bowl title three years ago. 

Both teams can score points and are led by young quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts is in his second season as the starting QB for the Eagles and of course Patrick Mahomes has been the starter in Kansas City for the last five years and is likely to win his second NFL Most Valuable Player award prior to the action on Sunday evening. 

Mahomes' main target in the high profile K.C. offense is tight end Travis Kelce, who has scored three touchdowns in the post-season. Along with Kelce are wide receivers Marquez Valdes-Scantling, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kedarius Toney. The running backs are Isiah Pacheco, Jerrick McKinnon and also Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has been out of action since Week 11 but will look to contribute. 

Defensively, the Chiefs were decent in 2022, but they can get after opposing passers and are led by Chris Jones up front. The secondary features L'Jarius Sneed, Justin Reid and Trent McDuffie and they will be challenged big time taking on the like of Eagles wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

Philadelphia has Hurts at quarterback along with running backs Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell. The receivers (Brown and Smith) are outstanding and tight end Dallas Goedert has been a beast in the playoffs as well. But the Eagles defense has been the story so far this post-season and for good reason. 

The Philadelphia defense had 70 quarterback sacks in the regular season and continue their onslaught, getting five more against the New York Giants (divisional round) and three more in their win against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. Haason Reddick (linebacker) leads the way for the team on defense and up front are Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, Robert Quinn, Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox. The secondary has been solid all year as well with the likes of Darius Slay and James Bradberry at the corners and safeties C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Marcus Epps and Reed Blankenship. 

Throw in the extra stories of the Kelce brothers (Travis and Jason) playing against each other with a chance to get a second Super Bowl ring. Jason is the All-Pro center for the Eagles and Travis is perhaps the best tight end in the entire league. And let's not forget Andy Reid, the Head Coach for the Chiefs. Reid used to be the head coach in Philadelphia and was there 18 years ago when they lost to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. 

All in all, it should be an interesting event and the game should be exciting as well. The call here is for the Eagles to win a squeaker, but that will depend on their tenacious defense putting the pressure on Mahomes and company in much the same manner the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to when they routed the Chiefs, 31-9 two years ago in Super Bowl LV.  

It could very well come down to either the Eagles defense getting the big stop late in the game or Philadelphia marching down the field late in the game against the Chiefs defense to get the win. 

 

                              PREDICTION - Philadelphia 28, Kansas City 27