Kansas City was chasing history in Super Bowl 59, but the Philadelphia Eagles were constantly chasing Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes all over the field in their dominating 40-22 victory.
The loss denied Kansas City the chance to make history as the only team to win back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls. It also marked the second-ever Vince Lombardi trophy for Philadelphia, who secured revenge from their 2023 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57.
The Chiefs entered Sunday night with 17 consecutive games won by a single score in the playoffs and regular season, an NFL record. But this game was never close.
The Eagles held the Chiefs pointless for nearly three full quarters, before the Chiefs scored their first touchdown late in the third quarter on a 24-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. That made it 34-6, with the Chiefs failing their two-point conversion.
After the Eagles racked up three more points with a field goal in the fourth quarter, a rapid sack of Mahomes put the ball back into Philadelphia’s hands. Another field goal brought the score to 40-6.
The fourth quarter was productive, but not enough. The Chiefs pulled off a two-point conversion to bring the score to 40-14, after a touchdown catch by DeAndre Hopkins. Worthy also caught a long pass from Mahomes for his second touchdown of the night, and another two-point conversion brought it up to 40-22.
Mahomes was sacked an astonishing six times during the game, just one short of the Super Bowl record.
Fans across the Kansas City metro took the loss hard. At a packed Super Bowl watch party at KC Live! in the Power & Light District, the crowd began thinning out well before the fourth quarter began.
Another insult to injury: The loss also snapped the Chiefs’ postseason winning streak at nine, one short of tying New England for the best all-time in NFL postseason history.
How the game went
When the Chiefs' offense took the field, after the Eagles punted on their opening possession, coach Andy Reid stuck with the starters he utilized in the postseason — with Joe Thuney playing left tackle and Mike Caliendo at left guard to protect quarterback Mahomes.
But the Eagles exploited that side of the line with heavy rushes and forced Mahomes to scramble while also preventing him from big gains on the ground.
By halftime, the Chiefs spotted the Eagles a 24-0 lead, much larger than the 10-point deficit the Chiefs overcame two years ago.
This time around, the Eagles built their larger margin after Cooper DeJean intercepted a Mahomes pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown that made it 17-0. When the Chiefs tried to put together a two-minute offense late in the half, an interception by Zack Baun set the Eagles’ final touchdown of the grueling opening half for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs attempted to move the ball through the air in the opening half, and their running backs had only three carries before halftime. The Eagles also didn’t allow Mahomes to hurt them on the ground.
Even when the Chiefs forced the game’s first turnover to open the second quarter on a Bryan Cook interception, the Chiefs offense failed to pick up a first down while deep in their own territory.
In the first half, the Eagles out-gained the Chiefs 179 yards to 23 to dominate.
It didn’t take long for the Eagles fans to jeer the game’s first penalty, an offensive pass interference that wiped out a possible 32-yard play on a fourth-down conversion attempt during the Eagles’ opening possession.
But it was the Chiefs who committed more penalties and untimely miscues that kept the Eagles offense on the field in the disastrous opening half.
Worse for the Chiefs, this performance overshadowed the fact that their defense contained Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing plateau during the regular season.
While the Eagles piled up their points in the first half, Barkley was limited to just 31 yards in the first half. Still, that was enough for Barkley to set the NFL season rushing record, postseason included.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information.
