Hurts’ brilliant effort falls short
Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Jalen Hurts dominated the Super Bowl offensively for the Philadelphia Eagles.
It just wasn’t enough to outduel Patrick Mahomes.
Hurts delivered a record performance on football’s biggest stage, throwing for 304 yards and a touchdown, running for 70 yards and three scores and adding a game-tying 2-point conversion.
But Hurts could only watch from the sideline as Mahomes drove the Chiefs to the go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds remaining for a 38-35 victory on Sunday.
Despite ending up with the loss, Hurts put together one of the most prolific games ever in the Super Bowl, but became the first QB ever to lose the big game while leading his team to at least 35 points.
He set the record for most yards rushing ever by a quarterback in a Super Bowl, he tied Terrell Davis’ record for most TD runs by any player, tied James White’s mark with 20 points scored and joined Hall of Famers Steve Young and Joe Montana as the only players ever to account for at least 370 yards and four TDS (rushing and passing) in a Super Bowl.
But the breakthrough season that ended with Hurts as the runner-up to Mahomes in the MVP voting also led him to be runner-up in the Super Bowl as Hurts became the first player to lose a Super Bowl despite accounting for four touchdowns.
Hurts started the game fast and never slowed down — but couldn’t get a chance to win it at the end thanks to a defensive holding call against James Bradberry that gave the Chiefs a first down in field-goal range
again on a 3-yard scramble late in the second quarter. He limped off the field but showed no ill effects on Kansas City’s next possession.
Mahomes slipped — several players lost their footing on the natural grass surface — in the pocket yet somehow regained his balance and scrambled 14 yards to the Eagles 4, setting up Isiah Pacheco’s 1-yard TD run that cut the deficit to 24-21.
After Jake Elliott’s 33yard field goal extended Philadelphia’s lead to 27-21, the Chiefs struck again.
Mahomes tossed a 5-yard TD pass to a wide-open Kardarius Toney to give Kansas City its first lead, 28-27, early in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs tightened up their defense, forcing Philly to punt. Then Toney returned a line-drive kick 65 yards to the Eagles 5 for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. and helped them run out almost the entire clock.
Hurts had one last chance and his desperation pass fell way short and he waked off the field in dejection.
It was a crushing way to end a brilliant performance.
Hurts scored on one of his patented sneaks on the opening drive, delivered a 45-yard scoring strike to A.J. Brown on the first play of the second quarter, added a 4-yard run late in the second quarter and then engineered a signature drive in the fourth quarter.
He connected on a 45yard
On third down from the 4, Mahomes connected with Skyy Moore to extend their lead to 35-27. Moore also was wide open on the play.
But the Eagles wouldn’t go away.
Hurts hit Devonta Smith for a 46-yard gain to the Chiefs and ran in for his third score of the game. He also ran in for the 2-point conversion to tie it at 35-35 with 5:15 to go.
As “Fly! Eagles! Fly!” reverberated throughout the stadium, Mahomes and the Chiefs went back to work.
The 27-year-old Mahomes became the third player to win his second NFL MVP award before age 28. He also became the youngest QB to start three Super Bowls. Then, Mahomes became the first player to win the Super Bowl the same season he was MVP after nine straight players lost.
Just five years after winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history, the Eagles came close with a pass to Devonta Smith and then capped off the drive with a 2-yard run. He then ran it in himself for the game-tying 2-point conversion but was mostly a spectator after that.
About the only thing Hurts didn’t do right came when he fumbled while switching hands holding the ball, leading to a 36yard fumble return TD for Nick Bolton in the first half.
But that one mistake did little to slow down Hurts, who converted a 28-yard run on a fourth-down keeper on the next drive to set up his second TD run of the game from 4 yards. new coach — Nick Sirianni — and new quarterback — Hurts.
Hurts set a Super Bowl record with 70 yards rushing and tied a record with three rushing scores.