Super Bowl epic in quick check
Run of Madness tops Chiefs shock
By David Needy, Phoenix
2/13/2023 5:32 am
What an adventure in the Arizona desert: While superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes scares the fans, a new signing turns the game around for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kadarius Toney sets the course for victory in one of the best Super Bowls in a long time with a run for the ages.
What happened:
It was already clear beforehand that it would be historic. For the first time in NFL history, two black quarterbacks faced each other in the Super Bowl in Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. Hurts’ Eagles went into the game as slight favorites, with the playmaker on the field Philadelphia had lost just a single game all year. However, nobody wanted to see the Kansas City Chiefs as a real underdog because MVP Mahomes is considered the best quarterback in the world.
And they should be right. In a spectacular and tight game, the Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35. One of the best Super Bowls in years gives Kansas City its third overall title and second in four years. Meanwhile, Super Bowl MVP Mahomes continues to build his very own legend. In between, pop star Rihanna fires off a firework of hits that is second to none, celebrating her stage comeback after almost seven years of absence and then announcing that she is pregnant. Rumors had already surfaced during the show. What an adventure in Arizona!
How wild was the NFL?
Excess. show off Entertainment. This is Super Bowl LVII, the 57th edition. The NFL also shows what it can do in terms of show and volume in Phoenix. The 63,400-seat State Farm Stadium, which opened in 2006, has an exterior design reminiscent of two of Arizona’s most recognizable features: barrel cacti and a coiled snake. For the Super Bowl, organizers are using an all-new field — a hybrid of Bermuda grass and perennial rye grass — that started growing more than a year ago.
Hours before kick-off, the crowds crowd around the arena at the fan festivals. Many simply turned up for the so-called “tailgating”, the celebration before the game. On average, tickets to the game cost $9,000, the second highest in NFL history. On the Stubhub resale exchange, good seats sell for just under $90,000 a few hours before the game.
Scene of the game:
This scene is divided into two. With an up and a down. Only with opposite courses. It all starts with a moment of shock for those who stick with the Chiefs: Less than two minutes before half-time, Mahomes strays back and forth on a third try, but can’t find a pass station. On a final sprint, TJ Edwards tackles the quarterback’s legs. Mahomes goes down hard, stays down for a moment – and then hobbles off the field. Some hearts in the arena may be beating as badly as the playmaker is running at this moment. In the beat of limping, so to speak. The Chiefs backup quarterback immediately warms up on the sidelines.
Mahomes, who suffered a serious ankle injury in the first playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, appears to have injured his right foot again. With a 14:24 deficit, we go into the break, even that. But we live in the 21st century, medicine is well advanced and fortunately some painkillers have already been developed.
And so Mahomes returns for the second part of the game’s post-halftime scene. He starts with three running moves. Is the ankle broken? The answer follows promptly: No! Because now Mahomes is dancing. Almost like Rudi Nureyev in his best days, he flips from left to right and back again. With a final sprint he races to the important first down in the red zone. Isiah Pacheco then runs for the last yard for his first Super Bowl touchdown, but all Chiefs fans breathe a sigh of relief because one thing is clear: Your quarterback can swallow the injury this time and defy the hobble and limp. Kansas City is back on three points, Mahomes and Co. start a furious offensive spectacle – and the rest is history.
Player of the Game:
Anyone expecting the next ode to Mahomes here underestimates the brilliant Chiefs team that evening in the Arizona desert. Above all, however, a certain Kadarius Toney should be singled out. Never heard? It doesn’t matter, he only switched from the New York Giants to Kansas City during the season. The 24-year-old wide receiver is rather unremarkable for the first three quarters, but he really gets going in the final round.
Toney provides two of the most important plays in the fourth quarter. First of all, it is he who creates the first lead ever for the Chiefs this evening. With a trick move, Mahomes served the receiver, who was left completely blank on the right outer line. He easily catches the pass over five yards to 28:27.
But anyone who now expects Hurts’ answer in direct return is far from it. Because Toney goes on a crazy run after the Eagles have to punt. It’s one of those “big plays,” as they say in the US, that it takes to crown yourself in a game this big. Toney catches the punt in his own half, first rushes to the left, turns abruptly almost at the touchline – and sprints across the field to the right. There he can suddenly break through to the front. His teammates block his path perfectly, Toney runs 65 yards almost into the end zone. Wow. Mahomes does the rest with a short pass and the Chiefs extend the lead to 35:27, the momentum is now clear for Kansas City – and shortly afterwards the Super Bowl is won.
Jalen Hurts also deserves an honorable mention at this point. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is having an incredibly good first Super Bowl at just 24 years old. With several deep and always incredibly precise throws, he whips his team forward again and again and equalizes again immediately after the Chiefs have taken the lead to 35:35. Unbelievable! In the end, Hurts threw for 304 yards and one touchdown and ran for 70 yards and three (!) touchdowns. In the end it wasn’t meant to be for him, but the future of the quarterback, who suffered only his second bankruptcy in the whole year with the Super Bowl, is bright.