QUESTIONABLE FLAG TAKES DRAMA OUT OF SUPER ENDING

A questionable late penalty on Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry with less than two minutes remaining 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 in Glendale, Ariz. It was an exciting back-andforth game that saw the Chiefs claw back from a 10point halftime deficit.

One of the few gripes for football fans — particularly Eagles fans — was the anticlimatic ending.

The Chiefs were driving and faced third-and-8 at the Eagles 15-yard line with 1:54 remaining 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 Smith-Schuster, though it didn’t appear to affect the play much. Still, the cornerback said he wasn’t upset at officials for the call.

“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 told a pool reporter. “The defender grabbed the jersey with his right hand and restricted him from releasing to the outside. So, therefore, we called defensive holding.”

Kansas City was able to essentially run out the clock from that point forward. Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon made a smart move on the ensuing down, purposefully sliding 2 yards short of the goal line instead of scoring a touchdown.

Mahomes then was able to kneel twice as the clock ran down after the Eagles used their final timeout.

Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining that proved to be the winner.

Travis tops big brother

Travis Kelce finished off what he called the best year of his life with a second Super Bowl title.

This one came at the expense of his big brother.

The Chiefs tight end hauled in six catches for a team-leading 81 yards and a touchdown Sunday night, helping Kansas City rally from a 10-point halftime hole to beat Jason Kelce and the Eagles at State Farm Stadium.

“I got closer to my brother. Got to meet him at the mountaintop,” the younger Kelce said. “Best feeling in the world.”

Travis Kelce got emotional when he began talking about his mother, Donna Kelce, who became a star in her own right during Super Bowl week. She was featured during pregame wearing a custom outfit that was half Chiefs and half Eagles, along with a pair of shoes with Jason Kelce’s number on the right and Travis Kelce’s number on the left, earrings representing each team and a tote bag that had both her sons’ numbers and “Mama Kelce” on it.

She was clearly playing no favorites on Sunday night.

There could be only one winner, though.

Jason Kelce did all he could to help the Eagles add another Lombardi Trophy to the one he won in 2018. The burly center paved the way for Jalen Hurts to throw for 304 yards and a touchdown while running for 70 yards and three more scores.