The Super Bowl is the third most-watched event on television in the world. Every year an average of 113 million people gather to watch the football game digitally or in person.
This year the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57 in Glendale, Arizona. Both teams entered the game with a record of 16-3 after winning their conference title games.
“I thought it was going to be a great game; I mean the Super Bowl always is,” junior Chase Abounader said..
The Eagles jumped out fast, driving straight down the field on the opening drive and scoring a touchdown as they did on 63.2% of their opening drives this season.
“I pretty much thought they were going to win after that opening drive,” junior Paul Woods said.
The early favorite Chiefs quickly became underdogs and looked to top the Eagles’ score. They did just that as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce for a touchdown in under three minutes.
“I then realized this was going to be a good game, right then and there,” Woods said.
The game was indeed up for grabs now as the Eagles looked to respond. After a little back and forth, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts connected with Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 45-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles a seven-point lead.
“I honestly thought the Chiefs were still in it; Mahomes has always come back from those big deficits,” freshman Luke Bulman said.
The Eagles’ defense would go on to hold the Chiefs on the pursuing drive and give their offense a chance to expand their lead. Once the Eagles got the ball back, they began to drive down the field with ease again until Hurts committed a crucial mistake when he fumbled the ball. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton came off the left edge and returned the fumble for a game-changing 36-yard touchdown, tying the game.
“At that point, I realized that Hurts wasn’t all that; he just didn’t have that clutch gene,” Woods said.
With things looking down for the Philly team, just before the half, Hurts showed incredible maturity for a young quarterback, driving the Eagles down the field and scoring his second touchdown of the game with a four-yard run. The Eagles would steal a field goal right before the half, giving them a ten-point lead.
“I was confident that the Eagles were going to win at that point,” Bulman said.
When the second half began, desperation began to set in for the Chiefs as they faced their biggest deficit of the game; however, the Chiefs would go on to score three straight touchdowns on three consecutive drives while only allowing a field goal giving them a 35-27 lead with nine minutes to go in the game.
“I thought for sure it was over, and that the momentum was so much for the Chiefs to answer,” Abounader said.
Down by eight with nine minutes to go, Hurts once again led the Eagles down the field as they finally answered the Chiefs with another Hurts touchdown run, his third of the game. Hurts and the Eagles would go on to convert a two-point conversion, tying the game score.
“ I thought Hurts deserved it so much, it was honestly a phenomenal drive from him,” Bulman said.
With the game tied with five minutes to go, the man who had led a clutch drive to win the AFC Championship game two weeks ago, Mahomes, looked to do the impossible again. Mahomes and the Chiefs drove down the field and kicked a game-winning field goal with the help of a crucial holding call given to Eagle’s cornerback James Bradberry as he held Chiefs receiver Ju-ju Smith-Schuster on a crucial third down, allowing the Chiefs to run down the clock to just eight seconds, winning the Chiefs their second Super Bowl in four years and Mahomes his second Super Bowl MVP.
“ It was a great game, and I think the best team won,” Bulman said.