OPINION: A gifted victory for the Kansas City Chiefs
February 18, 2023
It was third and eight with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stepped back, threw toward the end zone and the ball landed as his team would seemingly have to settle for a field goal.
The Eagles would get a chance to win the game, but no, princess Mahomes threw a temper tantrum.
“The Golden Boy” was awarded a “holding” penalty for Eagles’ cornerback James Bradberry slightly tugging the jersey on Kansas City Chiefs’ JuJu Smith-Schuster.
This gave the Chiefs a first down and sealed the Eagles’ 38-35 losing fate.
The Chiefs would then run down the clock, kicking a field goal with eight seconds left and earning the Super Bowl victory.
The script writers showed up big time for the Chiefs.
Why the call sucked
The call was absolutely horrendous if you ask me, and many others agree.
First off, let’s address the fact that the ball was not catchable.
The ball Mahomes threw to Chief’s wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was not catchable at all. The ball landed about five yards in front of JuJu and he had no chance of catching it.
The Eagles cornerback James Bradberry could’ve given JuJu an extra push, and he still wouldn’t have caught it.
Second of all, it was not a penalty.
The officials in the game were letting physical play all game between the corners and receivers and weren’t calling penalties.
Former NFL players like Robert Griffin III were saying it wasn’t even a penalty.
RGIII wrote on Twitter, “Bad call. This play happened 40 times in the game. If you don’t call it then, you don’t call it in that moment.”
Cool.
Bad call. This play happened 40 times in the game. If you don’t call it then, you don’t call it in that moment. https://t.co/SFTXNgAmRZ— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 13, 2023
Lastly, the officials didn’t even see the “hold” until Mahomes started screaming and then threw the flag. That is a huge problem for the NFL if a player can scream and jump around like that and be rewarded with a call.
An NFL referee can only call a penalty if they see a player committing a penalty; not because a player tells them it is a penalty.
On top of that, the field conditions were horrendous. Players had to change their cleats in the first quarter because players were slipping and sliding all over the field.
The NFL spent $800,000 on the field and grew the grass for two years just for it to become a complete disaster. The NFL crew had to pick up clumps of the grass after the halftime show and fill in the gaps.
The annoyance of the Chiefs
JuJu proved once again why he is classless and craves attention after his Tweet on Valentine’s Day.
He decided to post a Valentine’s Day-made card of Bradberry saying “I’ll hold you when it matters most,” referring to the holding call on him.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody ❤️ pic.twitter.com/skXuZVgrYR
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) February 14, 2023
Instead of having class and celebrating his win, he decided to be a clown and post something after getting carried to the Super Bowl by Mahomes and Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
JuJu had just three touchdowns on the year, while Bradberry is a Second-Team All-Pro cornerback. In the Tweet-words of Eagles’ wide receiver A.J. Brown – JuJu is nothing more than a “TikTok boy.”
Another thing that annoyed me was Travis Kelce saying everyone doubted the Chiefs and that they weren’t going to win before the season. Multiple different media’s had the Chiefs making the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl.
Everyone was still saying Mahomes was the best quarterback in the league and that Kelce was the best tight end in the league.
Kelce was trying to push a narrative of them being underdogs, when in fact they never were.
The most annoying part for everyone about the Chiefs winning is we have to deal with the brother of Patrick Mahomes, Jackson Mahomes.
This guy is hated by many, including me, and rightfully so. He posts annoying and cringy TikToks and tries to steal the attention from his brother and make it about him to further himself.
He has been caught several times being very rude in public and loud. One incident from December is described in a Golf Digest article. He leeches off his brother for attention – and he is a terrible human being.
Proud fan despite the loss
Before the season, the media and experts gave Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts so much criticism and said he wasn’t a franchise quarterback.
Media and experts called him a “running back” and not a quarterback, saying he can’t pass. He proved them all wrong this season and took his team to the Super Bowl.
Not only that, but he passed for 304 yards and one touchdown and added 70 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in his Super Bowl debut.
He proved everyone wrong and cemented himself as a franchise quarterback.
I have no doubt in my mind that Hurts is the future of the Eagles and that he will lead us to a Super Bowl victory and will hold that Lombardi Trophy one day.
It was just the second season for Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni, and he led them to the Super Bowl.
It was the Eagles’ first season with star wide receiver A.J. Brown and star edge rusher Haason Reddick.
The team is very young and new with each other and already have played in one Super Bowl – and they will no doubt win one soon.
Jacob Hansen is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].