Super Bowl 57: The future is now
Although the officiating tried to steal the spotlight, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts were the real stories of this championship game.
One of my all-time favorite shows is Veronica Mars, which initially ended after three seasons on a bleak note — perhaps appropriate for a series that leaned into noir themes, but let me tell you, it was unsatisfying as a viewer. So when a Kickstarter campaign launched to fund a follow-up movie, I was there, as both a donor and a theatergoer. And when a new season came to Hulu years later, I was ready to watch as soon as the episodes dropped.
I mostly enjoyed Season 4 … until the very end, which felt like a huge slap in the face to longtime fans of the show. (I will not spoil anything, but if you’re curious, you can read a brief synopsis of the contentious ending here.) I also objected to the twist as a storyteller, because it seemed both lazy and unnecessary, done for shock value rather than plot and character development. I’ve tried not to let the final moments ruin the entire Veronica Mars franchise for me, but I can’t deny that it has somewhat tainted how I remember the show.
Unfortunately, Super Bowl 57 had a similar trajectory: engrossing entertainment for the first 58 minutes, then a controversial decision in the last two minutes that threatened to overshadow everything that came before it.
Yes, once again, we are talking about the officiating after a meaningful NFL game! Yaaaay.
With just under two minutes remaining and the score knotted at 35-all, Patrick Mahomes overthrew JuJu Smith-Schuster in the end zone on third-and-8. The Chiefs would have had to settle for a field goal (Harrison Butker had already missed one kick), and the red-hot Jalen Hurts would’ve gotten the ball back with enough time for the Eagles to potentially tie or take the lead.
But the refs called James Bradberry for defensive holding:
That gave the Chiefs a first down and let them burn enough clock to kick the go-ahead FG with eight seconds left. It was such a lousy way for what was an otherwise instant-classic Super Bowl to be decided. (And if that sounds familiar, then may I remind you of what happened in last year’s Super Bowl.)
To be clear, the problem isn’t really with the call itself, as ticky-tacky as it was; Bradberry himself admitted it was holding. The problem is the officials’ lack of consistency throughout the evening. If that earns a flag with two minutes left, then Bradberry’s much more obvious DPI from the first half should have been called too … but it wasn’t. There’s a reason Bradberry said he was hoping the refs would let his hold slide: because they already had.
In fact, it was the only flag against a defensive back in the game and just the third penalty assessed in the second half (the Eagles got called for a delay of game and defensive offside on previous drives). So you’re telling me that the only hold in the entire Super Bowl was the soft one committed by Bradberry, which just so happened to come in a critical moment near the end? Hah!
When the flag was thrown, analyst Greg Olsen — who has been a hit in the broadcast booth — immediately disagreed with the decision. “I think on this stage, I think you let them play,” he said.
Without proper context, that doesn’t necessarily make sense; if it’s a penalty in the first two minutes, it should be a penalty in the last two minutes. But considering the way the game had been officiated, he was right because the refs had “let them play” in the 58 minutes preceding that crucial call.
Although that holding call put a damper on the festivities, I will try to treat this Super Bowl like I do Veronica Mars: remember the good times and do my best to push the ending out of my mind.
Because there really was a lot to appreciate about this title bout, specifically the high-level quarterback duel and the back-and-forth nature of the second half. Super Bowl 57 delivered several records, including:
the first Super Bowl in which both teams scored at least 35 points (it was the third-highest-scoring SB ever)
Hurts became the first quarterback, and just the second player ever, to rush for three TDs in a Super Bowl
Hurts totaled the most rushing yards (70) ever by a QB in the Super Bowl
Hurts is responsible for the first “octopus” in a Super Bowl:
Mahomes is the first player to win MVP and a Super Bowl in the same year since Kurt Warner in 1999
Mahomes also became the first Black QB to take home two Super Bowl MVPs
Kadarius Toney had the longest punt return in Super Bowl history
the Chiefs are now just the second team to rally from a double-digit halftime deficit in the Super Bowl
Rihanna is the first pregnant woman to ever headline a Super Bowl halftime show
Altogether, it was a memorable night. Rather than look back at all the highlights, however, I’d like to look ahead at what the future might hold for both teams.
Are the Chiefs officially in dynasty mode?
During the postgame Super Bowl celebration, Mahomes didn’t want to call the Chiefs a dynasty after their second Super Bowl win (and third trip) in four years:
Since 2000, only two other franchises have won at least two Super Bowls in a four-season span: the Patriots (who did it more than once) and the Steelers (2005 and 2008 seasons). The Patriots absolutely were a dynasty, but I’m not sure the Steelers were consistently dominant enough to warrant the label.
Kansas City has more of a claim to “dynasty” than those ‘00s Steelers did, though, because it has won its division for seven consecutive seasons and hosted five straight AFC Championship Games. The Chiefs have also experienced a rare amount of continuity in this time: their head coach (Andy Reid), OC (Eric Bieniemy), DC (Steve Spagnuolo), special teams coordinator (Dave Toub) starting QB (Mahomes), his favorite target (Travis Kelce), and the leading sacker (Chris Jones) have all been with the team since at least the 2019 season.
And oh yeah, this is what that starting QB has done:
(Reid and Bieniemy, in particular, were masterful on Sunday too.)
But, in my opinion, Mahomes is probably correct. I think they need one more Super Bowl win in the near future to technically be declared a dynasty. Mahomes is also probably correct that they’re not done yet.
Not only is KC the early favorite to take home the Lombardi Trophy next year, but it should continue to enjoy stability on the staff and roster. Reid isn’t going anywhere, and the rest of the staff is unlikely to either (maybe Bieniemy but I’ll believe it when I see it). Mahomes is only 27 and locked in until 2032. Kelce has a few more years under contract and Jones isn’t a free agent just yet either.
Keeping the key pieces around is important for this dynasty hopeful. Yet the Chiefs have also proven that they’ll make improvements as needed. After the Bucs harassed Mahomes all Super Bowl long two years ago, Kansas City went out and bolstered its offensive line. This time against the NFL’s top pass rush unit, Mahomes was sacked zero times — with a bum ankle, no less.
When they couldn’t agree to terms with Tyreek Hill in the offseason, the Chiefs traded the speedy receiver to the Dolphins. Rather than try to replace him with one top guy, KC added solid if unspectacular names to the receiving corps, several of whom came up big in the Super Bowl.
Smith-Schuster, signed in free agency, caught a team-high seven passes. Toney, acquired in a midseason trade with the Giants, scored a touchdown and set up another with his long punt return. Skyy Moore, drafted in the second round, hauled in the first touchdown of his rookie season — KC’s final TD of the game, too:
The Chiefs sometimes make it look easy, but it’s incredibly hard to make it to the Super Bowl. No team has repeated as champs since the Patriots in the mid-aughts. There’s no guarantee the Chiefs will be back in the title game next year or the year after, especially when the AFC features stiff competition like Joe Burrow and the Bengals, as well as Josh Allen and the Bills.
But as long as Mahomes and Reid are around, it’s never smart to count them out.
Can the Eagles make it back to the Super Bowl?
I didn’t care which team won this year’s Super Bowl. I at least get the satisfaction of being right by picking the Chiefs — unlike the entire Fox crew, wtf — but I honestly didn’t have a preference other than hoping both teams played well and had fun.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel sorry afterward for Hurts, who was amazing out there on the (very crappy) field. Any questions about whether his shoulder injury would impact his running or passing were quickly put to rest when he marched the Eagles right down the field, and ran in the touchdown, on the game’s first drive.
Even on the rare occasion that Hurts made a mistake, like his fumble that turned into a Nick Bolton TD, he bounced right back. On the ensuing possession, Hurts put together a 12-play, 75-yard drive and capped it off with his second rushing score, giving his team the lead again.
Philly’s defense couldn’t stop Mahomes and Co. the entire second half — they scored on all four of their possessions — but Hurts did his best to match his QB counterpart. After the Chiefs went up by eight points, Hurts engineered another pivotal drive, this time accounting for both the touchdown and two-point conversion.
Unfortunately for Hurts, he never got a real shot, other than a Hail Mary that was never going to work, to try to win the game again. But he played well enough to win, even putting up better numbers than Mahomes:
As Mahomes told reporters about Hurts, “If there was any doubters left, there shouldn't be now.”
Hurts’ gutsy and inspired performance should be the biggest reason that Philadelphia fans — who have had a tough sports year — can feel optimistic about the future. Just a year ago, amid reports that the Eagles were interested in Deshaun Watson, there were questions about how committed the team really was to Hurts. Despite coach Nick Sirianni and GM Howie Roseman publicly supporting Hurts, it was clear that 2022 would be a make-or-break year for the young quarterback.
Well, after an offseason of working on his mechanics, I think it’s safe to say Hurts has made it. Even though he didn’t get that Super Bowl ring in his third season, he once again has the right attitude heading into another offseason:
Very easy to root for him!
However, the Eagles could experience some significant turnover; both coordinators are frontrunners for the final two head coach openings, while playmakers like C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Miles Sanders will hit free agency. And as we saw with Burrow and the Bengals, coming up just short in the Super Bowl doesn’t mean you’ll make it back the next year.
The Bengals came oh so close to doing that, though, proving that the Super Bowl hangover isn’t a real phenomenon.
Philadelphia won’t be losing Hurts and Sirianni anytime soon. Top receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are, like Hurts, younger than 26 and sticking around. Roseman also hasn’t hesitated to make major moves, such as trading for Brown and Gardner-Johnson, if it means making the team better.
The core of the Eagles shouldn’t change much. If Hurts stays healthy and keeps progressing as Sirianni believes, they should be, at the very least, contenders for the foreseeable future.