It was only fitting that with the current state of the NFL, one of the greatest and most entertaining football games of all time was decided by an over eager to get involved official. In a back and forth battle between two great teams led by unbelievable young quarterbacks, Carl Cheffers and his clucless crew felt a dire need to enter the chat at the most critical moment, after letting the players play for the majority of the night. The lack of flags up until that point were as refreshing as the minimal delays, the big plays, and the all around well played football game between the Chiefs and Eagles. Unfortunately for Eagles fans and bettors, the Birds fell one play short, and Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are taking home the Lombardi for the second time in 3 years.

The victory did not come easily for KC, with Philly coming out swinging, landing the first blow of the game with a well executed opening Touchdown drive. Much like they have done all season long, the Eagles ran the ball well and got key third down conversions to march down and take a 7–0 lead. Mahomes immediately answered with a TD strike of his own to Kelce, foreshadowing a night that had Eagles defenders lost all over the place, with the exception of being anywhere near KC receivers. Hurts did everything in his power to go shot for shot with the league MVP, tossing a 50+yard bomb to AJ Brown to take a 14–7, and after recovering from a brutal fumble six, the Birds went into halftime up 24–14.

If there was ever a script drawn up to beat Andy Reid and Mahomes, the Eagles followed it to a tee in the first half. At that point, Mahomes had spent the majority of his time in Glendale on the bench, with the Eagles establishing drive after drive and controlling the play clock. Despite putting up 14 points, Mahomes was only on the field for 8 of the 30 first half minutes. If there were ever any halftime adjustments made, none of them were done by Eagles defensive coaches, as Andy Reid completely cooked his former franchise, to the tune of 4 straight scoring drives after the electric Rihanna concert. Their three touchdown drives looked effortless, with receivers running wide open, none more so than on two of Mahomes three TD passes for the game. After Jalen Hurts called his own number and stepped up to tie the game up at 35, Mahomes and the Chiefs got the ball for their fourth possession of the half after the 3 straight Touchdowns. There was no stopping this attack, as the supposed best defensive line in NFL history had yet to lay a finger on Mahomes all night.

Marching into the Red Zone yet again, this time with the clock just under 2 minutes, it finally looked like Philly managed a 3rd down stop. This would have presented the Chiefs with the opportunity to kick a go-ahead field goal and give the ball back to Hurts with around 90 seconds left. The way Hurts was in the zone, overtime looked like best case scenario for Kansas City at that point. Seemingly knowing the golden child was in trouble, the zebras stepped in with a phantom holding call on Eagles defensive back James Bradberry, to give the Chiefs a fresh set of downs. All they needed to do at that point was sit on the ball, until they could trot Butker out to boot the game winner with single digit seconds left on the clock.

Bradberry admitted he tugged on the jersey prior to the flag coming in, but this was the kind of hold that happens on every single play throughout a game. Whether it is receivers down field, defensive lineman rushing the passer, or tight ends up the seem, ticky tac holding calls are a constant in the NFL, and it is up to the official when to throw their flags. In a game that must have featured hundreds of these types of subjective decisions, not a single one was flagged until the game’s most pivotal play. For once, we saw no PI’s, no offensive or defensive holdings, and not even a roughing the passer called. The defense has no choice but to play the game how it is being officiated all night long. Bradberry did just that, lightly touching on the back of Juju Smith Schuster who watched the third down pass sail 15 yards over his head, setting up what should have been 4th down with plenty of game remaining.

The Chiefs deserved to win this Super Bowl. If the game continued to go on, they would have continued to score at will, however, we were all robbed of a potential great finish with these offenses balling out on the field. Instead, the referees had to put their stamp on what was an otherwise all-time great Super Bowl, and break the hearts of Eagles bettors across the country. For 58 minutes, you could not have asked for more from this game, halftime show included. Jalen Hurts established himself as a superstar on the world’s biggest stage, and Patrick Mahomes lived up to his title as the best in the game. The lack of self-awareness from NFL officials to not allow the game to be decided by the players who we pay to watch play is mind-boggling. While the refs might get to claim a hold occurred, and even get backed up from the offender himself, fans on both sides know how soft and unwarranted that call was.

The Chiefs should have taken their 3 points with a minute and a half remaining, and Jalen Hurts should have had the opportunity to answer with a drive of his own. Chiefs bettors are surely celebrating today, but NFL fans on both sides were robbed of an opportunity to witness a great ending to what could have been the perfect Super Bowl.

Result: Eagles -1.5 — L