Eagles Lose A Legendary Super Bowl 57 To Kansas City Chiefs

PHILADELPHIA, PA — A season of improbable highs that built anticipation like a pressure cooker around the Delaware Valley for six months exploded in Arizona on Sunday night when the Eagles lost a heartbreaker in Super Bowl 57, 38-35, to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In what will doubtlessly go down in the books as one of the greatest Super Bowls in NFL history, the Eagles and the Chiefs went back and forth for 60 minutes of thrilling football, with neither side holding a decisive advantage for most of the game. Ultimately the Chiefs erased a 10 point halftime defecit to win a game that came down to the final second.

After a dominant first quarter that left them leading 24-14, the Chiefs roared back in the second half, getting a fortunate call on pass interference with less than two minutes remaining that allowed them to run down the clock. The Chiefs kicked a field goal with seconds to go, putting them up for good.

Resilience, grace under pressure, relentless sheer will, and legendary leadership on the world's biggest sports stage from a quarterback heralding a new generation of superstars nearly delivered the Birds their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history, and their second in five years.

But though Jalen Hurts was every bit the colossus the Eagles needed him to be, the Birds fell just short.

The first half was all Eagles. At the start of the second quarter, the Eagles broke it open when Hurts soared a 45 yard spiral a yard into the end zone, where AJ Brown wormed around two of the Chiefs' secondary to make the catch.

Momentum seemed to be turning to the Birds after that. They stopped the Chiefs on three downs the next drive, and Hurts made a beautiful move to escape a blitz and connect for an 11-yard pass for a first down. Another first down seemed imminent at midfield a few plays later, but the Birds were stunned when the ball was knocked out of Hurts' hands and Nick Bolton returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.

That abrupt series and turnaround characterized the early going, as the Eagles wasted no time in giving Hurts an immediate chance at redemption: a massive drive featuring two successful fourth down attempts was capped by three Hurts rushes, including the touchdown run. By the end of the half the Eagles were up 24-14, with the 24 points marking more than the Jaguars or Bengals had scored against the Chiefs in full games this postseason.

The pendulum swung dramatically in the second half. The Chiefs scored immediately to make it a three point game, and on the ensuing drive, it appeared that the Chiefs scored again after recovering a fumble a few plays into the Birds' possession. But the call was overturned, and a pair of epic completions to Dallas Goedert capped a drive that ended in a field goal.

But the Chiefs were not to be deterred. They scored twice more in quick fashion, including once off of a huge punt return at the start of the fourth quarter. The Birds were facing a 35-27 deficit with just nine minutes remaining. And they wasted no time.

They started off methodical with a few runs and few short passes, drawing near midfield, before Hurts unleashed another massive 45-yard toss downfield to Smith that brought the Eagles to the one-yard line. Hurts followed it up with his third rushing touchdown of the night, a Super Bowl record, and then took in the two-point conversion himself to knot the game at 35.

That led to what would prove to be the Chiefs late game winning drive.

Mahomes took home the Super Bowl MVP trophy, adding to his 2022 regular season MVP award. It was the Chiefs' own second Super Bowl victory in the last four years, and the second of the Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid era. It came despite Mahomes playing through a high ankle sprain which he aggravated just before the half.