Chiefs overcome 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Eagles, capture Super Bowl LVII 

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• READ: Mahomes wins Super Bowl MVP after leading comeback win
• READ: Battista: Eagles’ unquestioned leader Hurts owns his role in loss
• READ: Chadiha: ’22 season may be QB Mahomes’ best ever
• READ: Trotter: Chiefs’ O-line ‘handled business’ against Eagles
• READ: Eagles CB James Bradberry on crucial call: ‘It was holding’
• READ: Reid shrugs off retirement: ‘I’m going to hang around’
• READ: Emotional Kelce talks second ring, beating his brother
• READ: Social media reax pour in after Chiefs’ SB LVII victory
• READ: QB Henne announced retirement following SB triumph
• READ: 2023 NFL Draft order for first round

GLENDALE, Ariz. —

1. Never count out Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs. All week the talk around Arizona was that the Eagles might be the more talented team top to bottom, but Kansas City had the ultimate trump card in Mahomes. The first half unfolded poorly for Reid’s club. His defense got steamrolled, and the offense couldn’t find chunk plays. It was Travis Kelce or bust for the Chiefs. If not for Nick Bolton returning a Jalen Hurts fumble for a touchdown, the score would have been more lopsided than a 10-point deficit at halftime. With Mahomes’ ankle hobbled late in the second quarter, things looked bleak for the Chiefs as Rihanna played her halftime show. Then Mahomes came out firing in the second half, finding first down after first down, as the Chiefs spearheaded their way back into the game. It was eerily similar to K.C.’s Super Bowl win over San Francisco, but it didn’t take until the fourth quarter to kick it into gear this time. Three consecutive TD drives to open the second half gave K.C. a lead in a game that felt like an Eagles blowout most of the night. Reid dialed up some magnificent misdirection plays and had Jonathan Gannon’s secondary spinning down the stretch. Despite the banged-up wheel, Mahomes still avoided traffic well — the Eagles’ fierce pass rush didn’t register a sack — and had a pivotal 26-yard scamper to set up the game-winning score. Only Tom Brady has more playoff wins when trailing by double-digits than Mahomes. The MVP QB and the Chiefs earned another epic comeback to hoist their second Lombardi Trophy in four years.
2. Jalen Hurts puts up MVP-worthy performance in loss. The Eagles will be kicking themselves for wasting a historic performance from Hurts. The QB did it all for the Philly offense, making plays with his arm and legs. He set a Super Bowl QB rushing record with 70 yards on 15 carries with three TDs — joining Hall of Famer running back Terrell Davis (in Super Bowl XXXII) as the only players with three rushing TDs in a Super Bowl in NFL history. He also muscled his way for a big two-point conversion late. Hurts was 27-of-38 passing for 304 yards and a score, with some absolutely gorgeous dimes over defenders peppered in. He threw to all levels of the field, dropped a bomb to A.J. Brown, another to DeVonta Smith, and found Dallas Goedert several times to move the chains in critical spots. Hurts again proved unstoppable on the QB sneak, converting third- and fourth-and-shorts at will. Hurts generated 374 of the Eagles’ 417 total yards. The QB willed his club to a big early lead and, after getting down late, helped tie the game with his powerful deadlift runs. His fumble was huge and kept the Chiefs in the game early, but Hurts played his butt off and was the best player on the field most of the night. If ever the losing team could have claimed the Super Bowl MVP, Hurts’ performance certainly could have been considered.
3. Big hits set the tone for Chiefs D. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense came out hitting BIG on Super Bowl Sunday. From the first snap to the last, the K.C. D made the Eagles feel its presence. It wasn’t the prettiest performance from the Chiefs’ defense, with Chris Jones and Frank Clark each generating a single QB pressure. The young secondary got burned a few times, notably with rookie Trent McDuffie misplaying a deep shot to Brown early. But even as it gave up yards and couldn’t get off the field early, Spags’ defense continued to hit. It took some pinpoint Hurts passes to beat the Chiefs’ coverage. Perhaps most impressive was the tackling after the catch. Philly thrives on gobbling up yards after catch. Chiefs DBs were constantly in a position to negate those opportunities. Per Next Gen Stats, as an offense, the Eagles generated exactly zero yards after catch over expected, meaning K.C. held the Eagles to what they gained on the catch, nothing more. Those little victories in a high-scoring game can make a difference in the end.
4. Eagles dominate contest, but big swings turn tide. Philly controlled the Super Bowl most of the night. Churning out first downs with ease and doing whatever it wanted on offense. The Eagles converted 11 of 18 third downs and 2 of 2 fourth downs. At one point, the Eagles ran 60 plays to the Chiefs’ 30. Philly generated more first downs and yards and held more than a 10-minute edge in time of possession. Hurts threw for 122 more yards than the Super Bowl MVP Mahomes. But it was the big plays that went awry for Philadelphia. Hurts’ fumble was a massive swing that kept the game close early. The Eagles gave up an enormous punt return to Kadarius Toney that set up a short Chiefs TD. Gannon’s D got diced up by Mahomes in the second half and couldn’t get a stop. On the final drive, Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was called for a defensive hold that allowed K.C. to milk away most of the clock before kicking the game-winning field goal. It was a brutal way for a fantastic back-and-forth performance to end. 
5. Hello, Kadarius! That trade for Toney feels like it’s already paid off for K.C. The oft-injured wide receiver didn’t have a stat-filled contest, but his touches were massive. He faked jet motion and juked back wiiiiiiide open for a 5-yard TD early in the fourth quarter to give the Chiefs their first lead — his only offensive touch of the game. After the Chiefs forced a three-and-out, Toney zig-zagged his way for a 65-yard punt return that set up another quick TD that put K.C. up eight points. Toney coming to life in the second half was symbolic of the rest of the Chiefs’ offense. No player outside of Travis Kelce had more than 12 yards receiving in the first half. In the final two quarters, JuJu Smith-Schuster found a groove, Justin Watson had a big catch, and Skyy Moore snagged his first NFL TD. K.C. spent the entire season dealing with questions over whether their wideouts were good enough to mask the absence of Tyreek Hill. It didn’t look great most of Super Bowl Sunday, with the Chiefs missing a go-to WR target who could bend the defense. But down the stretch, the collection proved just enough to get the job done and hoist another Lombardi.

Next Gen stat of the game: Isiah Pacheco gained plus-13 rushing yards over expected in Super Bowl LVII, continuing his success from this season. Pacheco ends his rookie year with plus-173 rushing yards over expected, the most by any rookie over the last two seasons (including playoffs).

NFL Research: The Chiefs trailed the Eagles by 10 points at halftime of Super Bowl LVII. Teams that trail by 10 or more points at halftime were 1-26 in the Super Bowl entering Sunday — with the only win being the Patriots in Super Bowl LI against the Falcons. K.C. made it 2-26.