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.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid says very little went according to plan, and saluted the Eagles — his former team.
"They did a nice job," Reid said afterwards. "I’m proud of our guys, though, for the battle, the fight that they put in throughout the year, and all of the games that they played here in the last few years."
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 end of 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, a career-high and just one short of the Super Bowl record. And while he threw three touchdown passes on the night, his two first-half interceptions led to a pair of Eagles touchdowns and put the Chiefs in a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of.
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.
At least it didn’t come close to the biggest Super Bowl blowout. That honor goes to the 1990 game, San Francisco beat Denver 55-10 — also at the Superdome.
For Kansas City politicians, art institutions and more, the Chiefs losing the Super Bowl means paying up on numerous prop bets made with their Philadelphian counterparts over the last few weeks.
"Forever proud of our Kansas City Chiefs who remain the team of the 2020s," wrote Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas on social media. "Congratulations tonight though to the Philadelphia Eagles on their victory. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, we have some exceptional Kansas City barbecue heading your way."
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, fans started piling in beginning at 11 a.m. The watch party started high energy, with a DJ and emcee there to hype up the crowd, but as Philadelphia's lead grew, Chiefs supporters’ enthusiasm dwindled.
The crowd began thinning out well before the fourth quarter began, and the few hundred who remained at the end did not want to discuss what just occurred.
Fans got to the Peanut in Mission, Kansas, as early as 10 a.m. to snag the booth they sat in last year. Sandra Carrera from Kansas City, Kansas, watches Chief games at the bar every Sunday with her two sisters.
“What other team has gone through it, trying for a three-peat? It was a tough game," Carrera said.
At a watch party across town, however, the mood was very different. Eagles fans in Kansas City gathered Sunday at Chickie's and Pete's inside Bally's Casino.
"I did not have it to be such an a-- kicking," said Brian Watker, a Kansas City resident who became an Eagles fan while growing up in Vermont. "I expected it closer."
The Philadelphia sports bar chain has 19 locations, mostly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but Andy Reid liked it so well when he coached the Eagles that he prevailed on the owners to open a spot here. The Bally's location opened in 2023.
Liberty resident Susan Conge has lived in Kansas City for decades but remains a die-hard Eagles fan. She lead the crowd in singing "Fly Eagles Fly" after the final whistle.
"Everybody born in Philadelphia has to remain an Eagles fan forever," Conge said.
April Paulino grew up in the Delaware suburbs, and called this win revenge for two years ago.
"I'm happy with it and I can't wait to go to work tomorrow and talk to all the Chiefs fans and see how they feel," Paulino said.
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. Mahomes finished with 21 for 32 in passing attempts for 257 yards and three touchdowns, but the scores were overshadowed by two costly interceptions.
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, 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 and 57 for the entire game. Still, that was enough for Barkley to set the NFL season rushing record, postseason included, with 2,447 total yards.
The Eagles’ running attack with Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts, who also contributed with 630 rushing yards this season, were up against a Chiefs run defense that ranked as the eighth best in the NFL this season.
In the end, it was Hurts — named the Super Bowl MVP after throwing for 221 yards, rushing for 72 and scoring three touchdowns — who hurt the Chiefs the most.
KCUR's Kate Mays, Carlos Moreno and Jodi Fortino contributed reporting from the Kansas City metro.
