Glendale, Ariz. (Audacy Sports/WGR 550) - After facing a 24-14 deficit at halftime of Super Bowl LVII, the Kansas City Chiefs played like the better team in the second half, scoring 24 points and holding off the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38-35 win at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
It was all Philadelphia in the opening 30 minutes of play, as the Eagles dominated time of possession and managed to keep the Chiefs offense off the field.
Jalen Hurts looked like the MVP of the Super Bowl after the first half, as he had accounted for all three touchdowns for the Eagles - two rushing scores and another touchdown toss to wide receiver A.J. Brown.
In the second half, Kansas City used their opening drive to cut their deficit to 24-21, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field on a 10-play drive resulting in a one-yard rushing score from running back Isiah Pacheco.
After an Eagles field goal to extend Philadelphia's lead to 27-21, the Chiefs managed to take the lead early in the fourth quarter with some great deception from the Kansas City offense in the red zone. Some pre-snap movement from wide receiver Kadarius Toney helped get him into wide-open space, where Mahomes connected for a five-yard touchdown pass.
After an Eagles punt, the Chiefs used some of their deception again to be able to take an eight-point lead with 9:22 remaining on the clock. After Toney ripped off the longest punt return in Super Bowl history - 65 yards to the Eagles' five-yard line - Mahomes was able to connect with wide receiver Skyy Moore to put the Chiefs up, 35-27.
The Eagles responded just 4:07 later, as Hurts helped lead the Philadelphia offense down the field in eight plays, resulting in his third rushing touchdown of the game from two yards out - a Super Bowl record. Hurts then capped off the drive with a successful two-point conversion attempt to tie the game at 35-35.
However, the Chiefs managed to put the game on ice in the final 5:15 of game clock with a drive that just about killed Philadelphia's chances at a victory. Mahomes and the Kansas City offense went to work on a drive that chewed 5:07 off the clock, and resulted in a game-winning 27-yard field goal from kicker Harrison Butker.
The Eagles only had one more chance with six seconds remaining on the clock for a Hail Mary attempt, but Hurts' final pass of the game came up well-short of the end zone.
While the Chiefs ended up winning their second Super Bowl title in four seasons with the win, it certainly did not come without some controversy.
Throughout Sunday's contest, there were three instances of the classic "What is a catch? controversy that caused reviews and slowed the progress of play.
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However, the call that is at the center of discussion about the Super Bowl apparently didn’t cause much debate amongst the officials who made the decision.
During the Chiefs' final drive of the game and trying to keep it alive with 1:54 to play, a Mahomes pass couldn't find JuJu Smith-Schuster on 3rd-and-8. But Kansas City was bailed out in a big way, with Eagles cornerback James Bradberry getting flagged for defensive holding.
That resulted in the Chiefs moving up four yards and getting a fresh set of downs, wiping out the play. It also allowed for the Chiefs to burn more clock and set up Butker’s game-winning field goal.
A check of the tape shows that Bradberry held Smith-Schuster, something Bradberry didn’t deny after the game. But to call that penalty in that situation was surprising, and ultimately prevented the Eagles from getting the ball back down by three with plenty of time on the clock to run a few plays.
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“The receiver went to the inside and he was attempting to release to the outside," lead referee Carl Cheffers said in a pool report after the game. "The defender grabbed the jersey with his right hand and restricted him from releasing to the outside. So, therefore, we called defensive holding. … He went to the inside, he put a foot down to try and break to the outside. So, it was right at the break to the outside where the defender grabbed his jersey."
Cheffers said the grabbing of the jersey restricted Smith-Schuster’s “free release to the outside” and that “it was a clear case of a jersey grab that caused the restriction.”
Further, Cheffers said there "was no debate" among the referees if the call was right. "Just making sure what [the ref he threw the flag] had, and once he told us what he had, we went about our business," Cheffers said.
When asked if there was anything else he wanted to add that would be helpful for people to know, Cheffers said “I don’t think so. That’s what we’re looking for, those kind of restrictions in those kind of routes that put the receiver at a disadvantage."
There’s no guarantee the Eagles would have eventually gotten into field goal range had the flag not been thrown and things played out as expected. However, the fact that Hurts didn’t even get a chance to try to drive down the field is something that will sting in Philadelphia for a long, long time.
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