Super Bowl XVII goes to the Kansas City Chiefs: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes led his team to victory against the Philadelphia Eagles despite another injury in a spectacular exchange of blows on Monday night (02/13/2023) at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix/Arizona: 38 :35 (7:7, 7:17, 7:3, 17:8) it said at the end of a historic game, Mahomes was then also named MVP, i.e. the most valuable player in the Super Bowl.
The high tension was already guaranteed by the conditions: on the way to the Super Bowl, both teams had the same record (16:3 wins) and even scored the same number of points (546). And the game picked up speed from the first drive. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was immediately “on fire”, found DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert and Kenneth Gainwell with his passes – and even got a first down himself.
Delayed first touchdown celebration
Gainwell then celebrated a touchdown, but it was denied because he had already touched the ground with his elbow before the ball was in the end zone. Seconds later, Philadelphia cheered: From the 1-yard line, Hurts let himself be pushed over the line by his big boys and thus scored the first six points – kicker Jake Elliott refined it to 7:0 (5th).
But Patrick Mahomes also needed zero start-up time. He had doubts beforehand that his ankle injury from the playoffs would still be handicapped, but he proved otherwise with a nine-yard run on his first drive. After a top run by Isiah Pacheco, the starting position was so good after just six plays that Mahomes was able to target his favorite passing station Travis Kelce, including the extra point from Harrison Butker and the equalizer to 7:7 was immediately made (7th).
Butker blunder – and Missile pass from Hurts to Brown
Butker also made the first mistake of the evening. Trying to end the Chiefs’ second drive with a three-point field goal from 32 yards, he fired the ball at the left post – he had five of five field goals left in the playoffs.
And the next low blow for Kansas City followed right at the beginning of the second quarter. Almost exactly from the center line, Hurts fired a sensational pass over the Chiefs’ double cover into the end zone: AJ Brown brilliantly caught the 45-yard rocket for the second Eagles touchdown (16th): 14:7.
Hurts dropouts and Hurts exclamation marks
The momentum now seemed clearly on the Eagles side, especially since the defense quickly stopped Mahomes’ next drive. So Philadelphia could have extended the lead, but then Hurts got a little too euphoric. Without enemy action, he let the ball slip out of his hands, Nick Bolton collected it gratefully and ran through for a touchdown: 14:14, the Chiefs were back on the show.
The question of whether such a catastrophic mistake would throw the Philadelphia quarterback out of rhythm was answered very quickly – and very courageously. Twice he made a fourth attempt in the next drive, and the second time he even sent the kicker sent out by coach Nick Sarianni off the field to take the touchdown chance instead of a field goal. He then completed the attack himself with a run – 21:14 was the score in the 28th minute.
Shock moment for Mahomes
The Ciefs then had 2:20 minutes on the clock to score again before the halftime show with Rihanna. And then Mahomes, perhaps mentally under pressure from the many Hurts runs, made a momentous wrong decision. Instead of throwing away the egg in distress, he held the ball until he was brought down by the Chiefs defense – and he twisted his badly damaged right ankle again.
From outside and with a pained face, the MVP of the regular season had to watch how Hurts, despite the short time, made the next attack well into the Kansas half: Jake Elliott increased four seconds before the break with a field goal to 24:14. In any case, it was a historical performance for Hurts: There had never been a thrown touchdown and two self-run touchdowns in one half in the Super Bowl. Also strong: Of the 30 minutes in the first round, Philadelphia had the ball for 21:54 minutes.
Mahomes is coming back
After the spectacular half-time show with Rihanna, there was at least the good news for the Chiefs fans that Mahomes (of course) was trying again. And he didn’t take it easy, even ran with the ball again himself and thus initiated the touchdown by running back Isaih Pachero: 24:21 (35th).
Eight minutes later, Elliott increased the Eagles’ lead to 27:21 with a field goal, but the Chiefs regained momentum in the fourth quarter: Mahomes brought his team to the end zone with three passes to Juju Smith-Schuster, who had been barely visible until then , where Kadarius Toney completely frustrated the Eagles defense: touchdown and 28:27 lead in the 48th minute.
And again it hurts
Now the Chiefs suddenly had the upper hand again and added the next touchdown in the final quarter – this time the Eagles’ defense ran into nirvana on the left – Skyy Moore caught the touchdown pass: 35:27. Problem for Philadelphia: They now had to make up eight points – but the hotshot Hurts did it all alone. First he let himself be pushed over the line from a short distance from behind and scored his third touchdown. Instead of the extra point, the Eagles then went for the two-point conversion – and Hurts also ran that alone into the end zone: equalization to 35:35 in the 54th minute.
But after that, the watch was the Chiefs’ biggest friend. Kansas City played down their last drive with extreme calm and consistency to the bitter end, even refusing a clear touchdown and then not letting the opponent have the ball anymore. Only eleven seconds before the end, Harrison Butker started the final showdown – and chased his field goal through the post to make it 38:35. Ultimately, the outstanding Jalen Hurts had no answer and the Chiefs could start their party.