The game came down to the wire as both teams gave it their all until the very end. Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts both came to play in the first-ever Super Bowl featuring two Black quarterbacks.
Both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs started hot but shortly cooled off as the first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.
Patrick Mahomes had a great first quarter completing five-of-seven passes for the Chiefs for 60 yards and a touchdown. Jalen Hurts went seven-for-nine, totaling 71 yards and a rushing touchdown.
The Eagles dominated the second quarter as they took the lead on the first play of the quarter as Jalen Hurts launched a 45-yard bomb to A.J Brown in the back of the endzone for the Eagle’s second touchdown of the night. Shortly after, the Chief’s defense came up with a huge forced turnover as linebacker Nick Bolton recorded a 36-yard fumble recovery for a score.
Philadelphia quickly responded to the turnover as Hurts and the Eagle’s offense drove the ball down the field. The drive ended with a Hurts four-yard touchdown run into the endzone.
During the Chief’s drive on the next possession, Mahomes limped off the field with an apparent ankle injury. The second quarter ended with the Eagles up 24-10.
Grammy award-winning artist Rihanna performed live at halftime of the big game for the first time since 2018. The star made her long-awaited return to the stage as she headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl 57 Halftime Show with no guest appearances.
Freshman broadcast journalism major Hannah Kirby spoke on the star’s performance.
“I loved the halftime show, and I feel that RiRi did what needed to be done! It was simple, elegant, and exciting,” Kirby said. “The choreographer did her thing as well, and the dancers did their diligence also.”
Others believe that the halftime show did not live up to the hype. Junior sociology major Robert Rush could have been more impressed by the performance.
“It was a very hyped-up show because of the artist they had performed, which makes sense. Unfortunately, I feel as if it was very underwhelming,” said Rush. “I think it was more dancing than singing, and although Rihanna is a great artist, I expected more.”
The considerable controversy that came from Rihanna’s performance was that the singer/songwriter is pregnant for the second time, only less than a year after she gave birth to her first child in May with rapper ASAP Rocky.
Though Mahomes faced a tough match as he started the second half down to the Eagles by 14 points, shortly, Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket for a long 14-yard run to set up a one-yard rush by Isiah Pacheco to bring the Chiefs close at 24-21. Mahomes rallied Kansas City after completing a 5-yard pass to Kadarius Toney, giving the Chiefs a lead of 28-27 with about 12 minutes left in the quarter.
According to CBS Sports, Toney also set a Super Bowl record as he returned a punt early in the fourth quarter, scoring again to move the score 35-27.
Later in the fourth, the Eagles tried their hardest to get the ball back, but the Chiefs held on, setting up a game-winning field goal. Mahomes threw for three touchdowns on 182 passing yards in the 38-35 Super Bowl 57 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mahomes was named MVP of Super Bowl 57. He is the seventh quarterback in NFL history to win both the NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards in the same season.
“There’s nothing that’s going to keep me off the football field, and I just want to shout out my teammates, man,” Mahomes said. “We challenged each other, and It took everybody to win this football game, so shoutout to my teammates, baby! We’re Super Bowl Champs! Let’s go!”