What a Super Bowl! The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38–35 to capture their second Super Bowl in the past four seasons. The game itself was action-packed, with the two squads trading punches until the very end, where the referees made a questionable call (we will get into that). With so much to break down, Sam and Teddy have five takeaways from this thrilling game to give you.

Takeaway #1: Patrick Mahomes (already) has a case of the GOAT

Do you want to hear the list of NFL Quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowls and multiple league MVPs? Joe Montana, Tom Brady, and…Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Quite a group! Mahomes was excellent in this game, making almost no mistakes and leading Kansas City through an incredible second-half comeback. He had one incompletion in the second half. One. The final stat line won’t exactly show it—only 182 passing yards, although he did add three touchdowns—but Mahomes was exactly what Kansas City needed in this game: a poised, unafraid leader who brought his best on the biggest stage. He also had massive contributions on the ground, rushing for 44 yards on a sprained ankle that looked extremely painful. Mahomes’s back was up against the wall this season. He lost one of the best wide receivers in the league when Tyreek Hill left, he had to get accustomed with multiple new weapons on his offense, and the rest of the American Football Conference (AFC) was filled with star quarterbacks out to unseat him. But greatness shone through, and Mahomes scratched and crawled his way to a second Super Bowl title, which he absolutely deserved.

Takeaway #2: Jalen Hurts is one of the top 5 NFL quarterbacks

Reading that sentence a year ago would’ve made many people (including us) laugh out loud. But Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts has had an incredible and eye-opening year that has left no doubt that he’s the quarterback of the future for the team. Hurts led Philadelphia to a 14–3 regular season record, snatching the No. 1 seed with his incredible dual-threat ability (22 passing touchdowns, 13 rushing touchdowns!). He was actually even better in the playoffs, guiding the Eagles through two blowout wins before going toe-to-toe with Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Hurts threw for 304 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and three more scores, coming through seemingly every time he needed to. It was a tough loss for him and the Eagles, but Philadelphia undoubtedly has a bright future ahead with Hurts at the helm—he’s humble, a born leader, and quite handsome (unrelated, but had to be noted). With pretty weak quarterback play in the National Football Conference, the Eagles could be on top of their conference for years to come.

Takeaway #3: Andy Reid is the best coach in the NFL

There seems to be a new best coach in the league every year, but it’s currently hard to make an argument for anyone but Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Reid guided Kansas City through a brutal AFC, securing the No. 1 seed and outcoaching everyone he went up against in the playoffs, but the Super Bowl was undoubtedly his most impressive performance. Down by 10 at halftime, Reid went on to completely dominate the Eagles’ vaunted defense with his creative plays and motion-heavy offense. Mahomes was great, as discussed above, but Reid made it so his star quarterback didn’t have to do anything magnificent (like we’ve seen in the past). The coach did his best schematic work in the endzone, as multiple Chiefs wide receivers were wide open for massive touchdowns in the second half. This second ring just cemented Reid’s legacy as one of the best coaches of all time, and with him and Mahomes at the helm, Kansas City could very well be set up for a dynasty.

Takeaway #4: Questionable Refereeing (in the fourth quarter)

Facing 3rd-and-8 at the Eagles’ 14-yard line, Patrick Mahomes overthrew Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Thousands of Eagles fans around the world rejoiced until the camera panned to referee Carl Cheffers, who announced that Eagles cornerback James Bradberry had held Smith-Schuster, granting the Chiefs an automatic 1st down. Kansas City was able to run down the clock and kick a game-winning field goal with eight seconds remaining. Had the flag not been thrown, the Chiefs would have had to kick the field goal then, and Jalen Hurts and the Eagles would have had a minute and 50 seconds to tie or win the game.

Pretty much every close game contains a questionable call that outrages one fanbase. Bradberry said after the game that he did hold Smith-Schuster, and the penalty was warranted. The fact that the player who committed the penalty admitted that it was a fair call is good enough for some people, but not for me.

Do we think it was a hold? We don’t know. It truly was a 50-50 call. Bradberry did grab Smith-Schuster’s jersey, but he did not tug it; the grab didn’t seem to impact Smith-Schuster’s route. Isolating this play, we don’t think it was an egregious call. Rather, our problem with the penalty stems from the context in which it was called. There had not been a single defensive pass interference or defense holding called the entire game. The referees were allowing the players to be physical with each other. All any player, coach, or fan can ask for is consistency in refereeing, and this call was not in line with how the game was being refereed.

One play never decides a game. The Eagles made plenty of mistakes that put the Chiefs in a situation to win. Would the Eagles have won the game if this penalty was not called? Maybe not, but the fact that Jalen Hurts didn’t get a chance to tie or win the game is an atrocity.

Imagine a chess match between grandmasters Magnus Carlson and Hikaru Nakamura where Carlson is down a pawn, and before he has a chance to come back, the official (we think there is an official in chess) comes over, picks up Carlson’s king, and throws it away. That is what this call felt like. People don’t want to see a game, much less the Super Bowl, decided by an official. Instead, we want to see two great teams duel it out until the end.

Takeaway #5: Ask Sam and Teddy for the next lottery numbers

In our last article, previewing the Super Bowl, we dropped some predictions about the game. Let’s review!

1. Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco rushes for a touchdown—yup! He scored the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the second half, keying their comeback.
2. Hurts rushes for the first touchdown of the game—we really should have bet on this one (don’t bet kids!). Hurts started the Eagles’ big first half with a classic quarterback sneak.
3. Rihanna has a legendary halftime performance—this one was kind of a miss. She’s a queen, but we’ve definitely seen better halftime shows.
4. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert goes for 50 or more yards and a touchdown—we’ll take half credit for this one. Goedert had six catches for 60 yards but no scores.

Total: 2.5/4. We’ll take it!

It was an amazing season of football, but don’t for a second believe the end of the season means the end of Sam and Teddy’s takeaways. We will continue to provide off-season content talking about free agency and the NFL Draft!

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu. 

Teddy Benchley can be reached at tbenchley@wesleyan.edu.