Just like Wyatt Earp and his brothers and Doc Holliday had it out with the Clantons at Tombstone over a century ago, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles had their own showdown at Super Bowl 57 in Glendale, Arizona. Just like the Earps and Holliday, Mahomes and the Chiefs were left standing in a 38-35 win over the Eagles.
Trailing by ten points at the end of the first half and Mahomes hurting because of the same knee injury he had in a previous game, the Chiefs turned the second half around to tie the game at 35. Then with time running out, a gift from the heavens--well OK, it was the officials--when a holding penalty was called on the Eagles. This allowed Mahomes to take a knee three times near the Eagles end zone until,with only a few seconds left, the Chiefs' kicker could boot the winning field goal. This tactic is as stupid as freezing the kicker, but sometimes cheating works--not that we condone it.
Mahomes won his second Super Bowl MVP for this performance, which helps explain why he is the NFL's top quarterback in the post-Tom Brady era. This is the third championship for Kansas City, and the second for Mahomes and coach Andy Reid. They were the number one seed in the American Football Conference, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals in the playoffs to get here.
Philadelphia was the top seed in the National Football Conference, defeating the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers in their playoffs.
This year's halftime show was done by Rihanna, a hit maker who hasn't been around much for the last few years, tending to her business interests and becoming a mother for the first time. She ran through her list of tunes while walking through a series of platforms in midair with the greatest of ease. The biggest headline came after the show, when it was announced that Rihanna was pregnant for the second time. Unfortunately for her fans, this means less time making new music and preparing for a concert tour and more time tending to her family and her business interests.
Millions of dollars were spent on the commercials this year, and it seems they did more to confuse people than to sell its products. Just how did the M&M Spokescandies take the power back from the clutches of Maya Rudolph? Companies sharing their ads to the point where you don't know who it's for? Jesus "gets" us? Are we supposed to believe Ben Stiller and Steve Martin like Pepsi Zero Sugar, or were they just acting? Do we need another superhero movie?
According to estimates, 113 million of you watched all or part of Fox's telecast of the Super Bowl. It's the third highest number in TV history. Kevin Burkhardt, who called the big game for the first time, was a nice change from the usual suspects--Joe Buck, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz. But he needs work in bringing the drama. Greg Olsen has been winning raves as a game analyst and should improve, at least as long as Tom Brady chooses to stay out of the Fox booth.
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