On Sunday, February 9th, over 127 million people turned on their TVs and tuned into Super Bowl LIX. This year’s Super Bowl happened to be a rematch of the one two years prior.However, they were not met with the close game that was expected. The Philadelphia Eagles blew the Kansas City Chiefs out of the water 40-22.
The root of Kansas City’s problem stems back not to the beginning of this season, but all the way back to Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs managed to hold off the Eagles by three points in the tight 38-35 game. The two teams were going back and forth throughout all four quarters. Each seemed to maintain their lead only for a drive or two at most. Yet the Chiefs cut the Eagles off for good deep in the very last quarter. This marked the start of the Chief’s two-year Super Bowl streak. But it also lit a fire in the hearts of several Eagles players, leaving them with the longing for vengeance.
Fast forward back to Super Bowl LIX, and the Chiefs had yet another victory in the bag from Super Bowl LVII–against the San Francisco 49ers. But the question was, could they win a third Super Bowl in a row and break the record of two? Something no team has ever done? This added another load of pressure to the Chiefs’ already burdened shoulders.
In almost every sport, mentality is everything. If you start to snowball, it’s hard to slow down. One mistake can easily turn into a loss if your mindset isn’t strong. Unfortunately, this is what happened to the Chiefs.
Once the Eagles quickly began to pressure Mahomes, it was clear the game wasn’t going to be easy for Kansas City. The offensive linemen just couldn’t stop the incoming blitzes. Mahomes ended up being sacked six times and was forced to scramble many more. After a few quick possessions for the Chiefs’ offense, they began to slow down as if they had already lost the game. They continued to have one fumble and two interceptions and were forced to punt six times. The Eagles took advantage of this and scored four touchdowns and four field goals with 210 passing yards and 135 rushing yards.
However, the Chiefs pulled themselves together in the fourth quarter. They managed to maintain the ball for over three minutes. Kansas City even made two touchdowns and both of the two-point conversions. But at the end of the day, it simply was too little too late.
And just like that, the hopes of making a historical win were out the window. All because the Chiefs couldn’t step out of their negative thinking in time.
