Enzo Candolo | Sports Editor
February 21, 2023
Some called it the “Kelce Bowl,” and the boring people called it Super Bowl LVll. But whatever you called it, you were in for a treat… for most of the game.
The Kansas City Chiefs took this year’s super bowl back to Missouri. Although a bit controversial of a finish, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts played outstanding and proved to the doubters why they’re the two of the best quarterbacks in the league. Specifically, Mahomes went down early in the postseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a high ankle injury that lingered until the big game.
Pat threw 703 yards for seven touchdowns in the playoffs and rushed for some big pickups throughout all the Chiefs games. The man played on one leg for most of the playoffs and still won the Lombardi trophy. If that doesn’t tell you enough about why he was the MVP of the league, I am still determining what will.
However, I must credit Jalen Hurts for what he did to the Philadelphia Eagles franchise in the past three years. Hurts threw 579 yards for three touchdowns and rushed for five in the postseason. Thanks to Jalen’s tenacity, Philly’s exciting young offense will be electric in the coming years. Hurts is giving the city of Philly a lot of hope for the future, not only in football but as a community. Junior Brady Lloyd said, “He’s a great guy on and off the field. It’s hard not to like him.”
Now, back to the game. Both teams’ first drives ended up in scoring possessions. From there on out, you just knew the game would be good.
The Eagles kept the pressure high on Mahomes for most of the first half, and he even re-tweaked his ankle. The Eagles continued their surge in the 2nd quarter, scoring 17 points and holding the Chiefs to only a single touchdown.
The second half started to turn up the heat with jaw-dropping plays and skeptical calls from the officials. Kansas City scored seven, and Philadelphia scored three in the 3rd quarter. And then, all of a sudden, Mahomes seemed like a completely new man and didn’t even look like he had an injury. The Chiefs scored 14 and the Eagles 8 in that 4th quarter, and in that final, Chiefs possession tied at 35 points at the Eagles’ 15-yard-line. Third down and eight yards till the first, the referee threw a flag for the passer interference on James Bradberry, which would result in a KC first down and all the time in the world to run the clock out and win by a go-ahead field goal.
As soon as that flag hit the grass (which was terrible and probably the biggest waste of 2 years and 800 thousand dollars to maintain), you could see the controversy coming, “It could’ve been a hold; I’m not an expert, but to call such a light PI in that state of the game is just ridiculous” says Junior Tyler Budge. You can form your own opinions about the call, but it’s sad to see such a great Kelce Bowl in such a boring way.
vamo chiefs