SUPERBOWL 57: CHIEFS EAGLES GAME REVIEW

Teia Nash

Lombardi Trophy

The Superbowl between the Chiefs and Eagles on Feb. 12 was one to remember. The game was both high-scoring and highly entertaining. At one point the game had 112 million concurrent viewers, the most since 2015. The final score was 38-35 for the Chiefs. 

In the first quarter, the Eagles drove down the field all the way to the one yard line after a Kenneth Gainwell rushing touchdown was called back. They then ran their signature QB sneak formation, and Jalen Hurts got his first rushing touchdown of the day. The Chiefs responded on the next drive when Mahomes threw a beautiful over-the-shoulder touchdown to Travis Kelce that was set up by a big Isiah Pacheco run. 

The second quarter was full of twists and turns. It started off with a touchdown pass by Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown 8 seconds into the 2nd quarter. After the extra point by Jake Elliot, the Eagles were up 14-7. On the next drive, the Chiefs were unable to convert on 3rd and 8, so they were forced to punt. The Eagles offense was on fire at this time, so having to punt meant that their defense had to really step it up on the next drive. That they did. The Eagles were driving, and they got the ball down to their 49 yard line. But the Chiefs defense was finally getting pressure on Jalen Hurts. Finally, on a 3rd and 6 at the Eagles 49 yard line, Jalen Hurts took the ball on a designed QB run. He ran to his right, but there was Nick Bolton plugging up his running lane. Hurts tried to cut away from him, but he lost the ball. Bolton scooped it up and ran it all the way for a 36 yard fumble return touchdown. 

The fumble was a pivotal moment in the game, because had Hurts held on to the ball, the Eagles most likely would have scored on that possession. They would have been up two scores, and all the momentum would have been for them, as they had just stopped the Cheifs offensive unit the drive before. But because of the defensive score, the game was tied. 

In the third quarter, the Chiefs scored another touchdown, and they managed to hold the Eagles to a field goal. Isaiah Pacheco ran it in to make the score 24-21 for the Chiefs. The Chiefs played very well on defense in this quarter and for the first time in this game, the Eagles offense just couldn’t get much done. 

The fourth quarter
was all about the
Chiefs offense.

The fourth quarter was all about the Chiefs offense. They scored 17 points in this quarter alone, with both Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore getting in the endzone on passes from Mahomes. Moore’s touchdown was set up by the longest punt return in Superbowl history by Kadarius Toney.

The Chiefs and the Eagles are without a doubt the two best teams in the NFL. Both teams are led by MVP caliber quarterbacks. In fact, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts were the number 1 and 2 for most votes for MVP. Both teams have essentially no weaknesses at any position. The Eagles have the best offensive line in the league, and the Chiefs have the 4th best. Both have talented receiving cores, incredible defensive linemen, and great secondaries. We knew that the Super Bowl would be a good game, but we didn’t know it would be THIS good. 

On the road to the Super Bowl, the Chiefs looked solid, and were in control of their games. The Bengals game was close, but the defense pulled through with two interceptions. The D-line also pulled through big-time, with 5 sacks. But they would have to rely on other things to prepare them for the game against the Eagles, because of how good the Eagles offensive line is. During the Superbowl, Jalen Hurts was only sacked twice, and one of the sacks was on a technicality when Jalen Hurts ran out of bounds and the refs determined he went out behind the line of scrimmage.

The other “sack” was when Jalen lost the ball and Bolton scored, as mentioned before. This was a crucial moment, because the Chiefs were down by 7 and the seemingly unstoppable Eagles offense had the ball. 

The Eagles in the postseason (not counting the Superbowl) were unstoppable. They steamrolled the Giants and won by 31 points. In the championship game against the Niners, they held one of the most explosive offenses in the league to 7 points. 

The Chiefs and Eagles both have top 5 defenses, so this game was not expected by many to be high-scoring, but it turned out that this game ended with the second most points in Superbowl history.