MADRID, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Kansas City Chiefs won the third Super Bowl in their history this Sunday after beating the Philadelphia Eagles 35-38 in an entertaining LVII edition, which was decided at the end with a Harrison Butker field goal that prevented the extension of a duel with one half for each.
The State Farm of Glendale, in Arizona, witnessed a great game, dominated by the Eagles until the start of the final quarter and overcome by the Chiefs of a Patrick Mahomes, who went from being scared with his ankle to leading towards his second Vince Lombardi in four seasons to a team that currently seems to be the great dominator of the NFL. Voted best player of the game, he broke the ‘curse’ of more than two decades that had hung over the ‘MVP’ of the season since the 1999-2000 season.
The other ‘quarterback’ also shone, Jalen Hurts, who despite an error that cost his team dearly, was the author of 20 of the 35 points for Nick Sirianni’s men, who dominated 24-14 at halftime, but lost offensive and, above all, defensive force in the second half.
The first half already had Hurts and Mahomes as protagonists. Both started in tune and led their team in the first two drives to sign touchdowns, the Eagles scored by the quarterback himself, who demonstrated his ability to run the entire game. The Chiefs, meanwhile, came hand in hand with the traditional connection between Mahomes and Travis Kelce, although they would not appear too much again.
Despite the promising start, the defenses did not allow more scores in the first quarter, although Kansas City had a good option with a missed field goal by Butker, and the start of the second brought one of the plays of the evening, the tremendous 45-yard pass from Hurts for the ‘touchdown’ of AJ Brown (14-7).
Philadelphia was able to neutralize the next attack and found itself in a good position to do damage again. But within a yard of getting the first down, he made two mistakes, the second at a high price. Until then safe Hurts slipped the ball and Bolton picked it up to equalize the match (14-14).
The Eagles quarterback did not look back too much and designed another long drive, daring because with the fourth down Nick Sirianni gave up the field goal, and successful, with another touchdown from Hurts (21-14 ). Kansas City not only couldn’t reply before the break, but also saw how Mahomes hurt his battered right ankle again in a tackle and his grimaces set off alarm bells.
MAHOMES DOES NOT ACCUSE THE PAIN AND THE CHIEFS ARE REMADE
The only good news for Andy Reid’s men was that their rival could only score three more points despite flirting with another possible ‘touchdown’ (24-14) with which they reached the period of reflection and Rihanna’s ‘show’ while Doubts grew about how the ‘MVP’ would return. He dissipated them with a good ‘drive’ of more than five minutes, where despite seeming diminished, he was even able to run to bring his team closer to the ‘end zone’ and finish off Isiah Pacheco’s ‘touchdown’ (24 -twenty-one).
The Eagles responded again with another very long drive, but with the only reward being another field goal that kept the AFC champions with all their options for the final 15 minutes (27-21). Mahomes teamed up with JuJu Smith-Schuster for a good possession and Toney’s touchdown put Kansas City ahead (27-28) for the first time.
It was time to see how the NFC champions would react and it didn’t go well. Not only did they not score but they also suffered a great return from Toney that Mahomes did not forgive to find Moore and bring the ring closer to those of Andy Reid (27-35). The response was up to the match and the rival. Hurts pulled the power out of his arm again with another huge pass to Smith and then scored his third touchdown and two-point conversion to tie it all (35-35).
In any case, the clock was ticking in favor of the Chiefs, who knew how to make the most of it with the Mahomes-Pacheco duo. Kansas City consumed most of the time, also benefiting from an untimely penalty on the Eagles, and Butker did not forgive with the decisive field goal to give the franchise its third Vince Lombardi and the joy for Travis over Jason in the brothers’ duel Kelce.