Wanted the Eagles to win:
Before I get into my thoughts on the 2023 Super Bowl, I must preface this by saying that I am a huge New England Patriots fan. Despite this, I was most certainly rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles in this game—I know, shocking. Though the Chiefs are an incredibly talented team with countless accomplishments, I am not a fan of them. The right thing to do would have been to root for a fellow American Football Conference (AFC) team, however, this time around rooting for an National Football Conference (NFC) team felt right. I have recovered from our loss to the Eagles during Super Bowl LII in 2018, and was hoping they would take down the Chiefs this year.
Going into the 2023 Super Bowl we all knew it was going to be a tight matchup; refer to Justin’s article from last week if you need to be caught up. With the well-rounded team that the Philadelphia Eagles are, and the top-tier quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs is, there was no way to definitively say who was destined to win the Super Bowl this year. Additionally, after an eventful National Football League (NFL) season filled with unexpected game results, injuries and stellar new quarterbacks on the rise, this game felt relatively normal in the grand scheme of things. The only injury during the Super Bowl was Mahomes’ tweaked ankle, which he was able to fight back from and complete the game.
With the Eagles possessing the lead in the first, second and third quarters, I had hoped they could capture the win over the Chiefs. The Eagles had a hard-fought game that, at least I thought, was shaping up to be their second-ever Super Bowl win. However, in my opinion, and probably most Eagles fans’ opinions, the game was stolen from them by the referees. With just about two minutes remaining in the game, cornerback James Bradberry was called for holding wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Based on the replays, this call seemed absurd. This penalty gave Kansas City a first down, and the ability to run the clock down until it was time for them to score their game-winning field goal.
Having scored off of a fumble return, and nearly a punt return, as well as the opportunity to run the clock and kick an easy field goal, I feel that the Chiefs had an especially lucky game.
In regards to the Chiefs having a rather lucky game, this is not to say that they did not earn it. I just felt that the game lacked the aggressive and high-intensity plays that Super Bowls normally showcase—never forget that 3-28 comeback. We all know that the Chiefs are currently the best team in the NFL. We knew that they would be a potential Super Bowl contender all season. What was upsetting to me was how their players and coaching staff were saying that nobody saw this win coming and that nobody believed in them. This is not true. We all believed in them, yet we (I) would have preferred another team to have captured the win this year.
Despite their loss, the Eagles have quite an impressive season to be proud of. With a young and exceptionally talented quarterback like Jalen Hurts, I believe that they have a bright future ahead of them.
And last, but certainly not least, Rihanna’s dazzling halftime performance was one to remember. With the array of her legendary throwback songs as well as her silent yet show-stopping pregnancy announcement, this halftime show got people talking. Rihanna was the real winner of the Super Bowl in my eyes.
What a 2022-2023 NFL season it was.
Wanted the Chiefs to win:
To start, I would like to say that I am most definitely a Washington Commanders fan, so I did not want the Eagles to win. But as a fan of football, I did want to see a competitive game. I think the game as a whole was competitive but it just did not feel right. After the game was over I looked at the clock and saw that it was only around 10 p.m. It felt like a short game and it was probably because the clock was constantly running. The teams were running the ball relatively effectively so maybe the game felt like it was going by quicker.
Let’s talk a bit about the Eagles first. Firstly, I originally doubted Jalen Hurts as a quarterback. I thought that he wasn’t a good passer and that all he could do was run. I admit I was wrong. Hurts uses his legs to buy time very effectively. It seemed like the Chiefs had no answer to him. He would stand in the pocket and find an open guy. If the Chiefs blitzed, Hurts would escape the pocket and still find the open guy. Overall, he had a great game on the ground and in the air. He had a great deep touchdown pass to wide receiver AJ Brown, while also tying the record for the most rushing touchdowns in a Super Bowl with three. The Hail Mary throw at the end was a bit concerning considering he was short of the endzone by a large margin, but still he was not the problem for the Eagles. I was not surprised at all by how the defense played. Their defense relies very heavily on pass rush. If they don’t get pressure on the quarterback, their secondary gets exposed and that is exactly what happened. Also, the team that led the entire league in sacks by 15 did not get a single sack in the entire game. That was crazy to me. I also have to say that the Eagles offense was extremely boring. Yes, at times Hurts was doing some crazy things that were cool; their game plan was just tiring to watch at times. Run the ball a few times and get a third or fourth in short and run a quarterback sneak. I wish they would just ban the quarterback sneak. It is so annoying to watch.
Now for the Chiefs. Head coach Andy Reid is a genius. I know that he continued to credit other coaches and players but that guy knows football. The Chiefs honestly looked terrible in the first half. Besides the fact that tight end Travis Kelce was constantly getting open, they could not really move the ball or stop anyone. Then all of a sudden they come out at halftime and they are moving the ball at will on offense. It was good coaching from Reid that got them there. Even in the first half when Kelce was consistently getting open, you could see how Reid schemes plays so that he gets open so easily. I am not saying Kelce is a bad player, but that Reid makes great use out of how good he is. The Chiefs also showed how once again teams need to stop paying running backs and drafting them in high rounds. You can always find talent late in the draft or unsigned. This time it was Isiah Pacheco. He was electric and a seventh-round draft pick. Pacheco had 76 yards rushing and a touchdown. I could go on and on talking about the Chiefs. I laughed really hard when wide receiver Kadarius Toney not only had a receiving touchdown, but also the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. Mahomes of course was incredible and he was doing it on a busted ankle. I think there is a genuine argument to say that he is already a lock for the Hall of Fame. He has now won two Super Bowls, won two Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, made it to the All-Pro Team twice, won the Offensive Player of the Year Award once and made it to the Pro-Bowl five times. In my opinion he is right on the cusp of making it right now, but he is definitely on the right track. I also want to say although Mahomes was great, linebacker Nick Bolton deserved to win Super Bowl MVP.
Well those are my thoughts on the Super Bowl. It was definitely weirder than normal. Even the field was strange. Players were changing cleats because they kept slipping. Anyway, I am going to end this article with a quote from Reid when asked about what the moment meant to him.
“It means a lot. I could kiss you right now but I’m not gonna do that,” said Reid. He said that to a reporter by the way. Andy Reid is a funny guy.
