Mith a scream that echoed from tens of thousands of throats, this game ended, in which victory and defeat, joy and sorrow, great joy and disappointment were so close together until just before the end than they had been for a long time. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, the final of the National Football League (NFL), on Sunday (local time) in Glendale, Arizona, 38:35. In front of around 72,000 spectators in an arena specially expanded for this game and, of course, sold out, the team from the American state of Missouri deservedly prevailed after a real spectacle and thus secured the next championship in the best football league in the world after 2020.
The fans of both teams, who had already made Phoenix and the surrounding area the epicenter of their anticipation for half the week, experienced a fast-paced Super Bowl with numerous great moves and remarkable individual performances. They had queued several hundred meters that day to get to the fan festivals around the stadium or their seats in the stands – at least with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius and sunshine – but they were rewarded by two teams who lived up to their reputation of being among the best in the league, both offensively and defensively.
The Eagles supporters are louder
What’s more, they saw two outstanding young quarterbacks who simply couldn’t be stopped in this finale and who had kept the exit completely open until a few seconds before the clock ran out: Jalen Hurts, 24 years old, and Patrick Mahomes, 27. Forming together they became the youngest quarterback duo to ever start a Super Bowl. Both were directly in focus in the respective first drives of their teams. Hurts scored the first points of the game through a so-called quarterback sneak, while Kansas City held back. Mahomes found loose tight end Travis Kelce: touchdown, equalizer.
The first big highlight came at the beginning of the second quarter: Hurts found his receiver AJ Brown in the end zone with a precise throw halfway across the field, and most of the fans in the arena were knocked out of their seats; in general, the fans of the Eagles had a clear advantage, especially acoustically, that afternoon in Arizona.
Well before half-time, however, the supporters in red cheered again: the Chiefs’ defense conquered a ball dropped by Hurts and carried it into the end zone for a defensive touchdown. 14:14, the game held what had become apparent in advance in view of the teams qualified for the Super Bowl. It was an entertaining game worth seeing, with lots of points from both sides – for which the Eagles, however, arrived with a significant delay. Their team buses had slowed down in the heavy traffic around the arena.
Celebrating with the Vince Lombardi Trophy: Travis Kelce (left) and Patrick Mahomes
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Image: AP
Later, when the game started punctually with both teams on the slightly damp field and quickly picked up speed, Eagles quarterback Hurts took control of the game again, leading his colleagues across the field with great calm and routine, skillfully distributing the balls, successfully made large gains on foot several times himself and then, benefiting from a penalty for Kansas City, scored Philadelphia’s next touchdown. At this point, many spectators in the stadium were already chanting “MVP, MVP” as if they wanted to forestall Hurts’ award for the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player. They were to be disappointed: the award was given to Hurts’ opposite Mahomes after the game.