Questionable late flag drops drama
GLENDALE, Ariz. — A questionable late penalty on Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry with less than two minutes left meant that a scintillating Super Bowl 57 had a bit of an underwhelming finish.
Kansas City won its second Super Bowl in four years by beating the Eagles 38-35 on Sunday. It was an exciting backand-forth game that saw the Chiefs rally from a 10-point halftime deficit.
One of the few gripes for fans — particularly Eagles fans — was the anti-climatic ending.
The Chiefs were driving and faced thirdand-8 at the Eagles’ 15 with 1:54 left when Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw incomplete to Juju Smith-schuster. But officials flagged Bradberry for defensive holding, which negated the incompletion and, more importantly, gave the Chiefs a first down.
Replays showed that Bradberry made light contact with Smithschuster, though it didn’t appear to affect the play much.
Many fans — and some football commentators — disagreed with the call. Former NFL tight end Greg Olsen wasn’t happy with the decision on the Fox broadcast and ESPN and Amazon analyst Kirk Herbstreit was also critical on social media.
The only person who didn’t seem upset with the call was Bradberry.
“It was a holding. I tugged his jersey,” Bradberry said. “I was hoping they would let it slide.”
Referee Carl Cheffers said it was a “clear case of a jersey grab.”
“The receiver went to the inside and he was attempting to release to the outside,” Cheffers said. “The defender grabbed the jersey with his right hand and restricted him from releasing to the outside. So, therefore, we called defensive holding.”