Eagles Lose Heartbreaker to Kansas City

In an offensive shootout, the Eagles came up short against the Kansas City Chiefs, losing 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII in Tempe, Arizona.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts went 27 for 38 in passing attempts for 304 yards and one touchdown, and ran 15 times for 70 yards for three more touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He also fumbled the football in the first half, resulting in a scoop-and-score for Kansas City.

Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, named Super Bowl LVII MVP, went 21 for 27 in passing attempts for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also ran six times for 44 yards.

It was a tale of two halves for the Eagles. In the first half, the Eagles held the ball for nearly 22 minutes compared to the Chiefs’ just over 8 minutes. The Eagles ended the first half up 10 points, 24-14.

In the second half, the Eagles only held the ball for less than 14 minutes, compared to the Chiefs’ more than 16. The Eagles defense was unable to stop the Chiefs from scoring in the second half; Mahomes was sack-free against the league’s number one sack defense, and would regularly dump the ball off to nearby receivers who would rush for the extra yards. Though Mahomes re-aggravated the ankle injury during the first half, it did not appear to impact the game, as his longest play was a scramble for 26 yards late in the fourth quarter.

Chiefs Running Back Isaiah Pacheco also saw significant action, running the ball 15 times for 76 yards and one touchdown. Tight End Travis Kelce, the leading receiver for the Chiefs, was six for six for 81 yards. Wide Receiver Juju Smith-Schuster had seven receptions on nine targets for 53 yards.

Running Backs Kenneth Gainwell and Miles Sanders both ran the ball seven times, with Gainwell netting 21 yards and Sanders netting 16 yards. Boston Scott had three carries for eight yards.

Eagles Wide Receiver DeVonta Smith was targeted nine times, with seven receptions for 100 yards. AJ Brown had six receptions off of eight targets for 96 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown catch. Dallas Goedert was six for seven for 60 yards.

The Eagles become only the second team in NFL history to hold a double-digit lead going into halftime and lose the game, after the 2016-17 Atlanta Falcons went up 21-3 over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. The Falcons would ultimately extend their lead to 28-3 before the Patriots came back to win in overtime 34-28.

With less than two minutes left in the game, the Eagles appeared to have the Chiefs limited to a field goal, but a controversial holding call on Eagles Safety James Bradberry gave the Chiefs a critical first down that ultimately led to the game-winning field goal. Bradberry admitted after the game that it was the correct call.

“It was a holding,” Bradberry said. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”

After the Chiefs hit the game winning field goal, Hurts had time for one Hail Mary pass from his own 36 yard line, but it fell well short of any Eagles receiver near the Kansas City 20 yard line.

Following the game, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni hugged every player in the locker room. He also praised Hurts for his performance.

“To me, Jalen played the best game I’ve seen him play in the two years we’ve been together,” Sirianni said. “He was outstanding.”

Sirianni was also confident postgame that the team would learn and grow from this.

“This one stings, this one hurts, no doubt we’ll get better from it,” he remarked. “We’ve got a good young quarterback who played a phenomenal year. We have the right people.”