Eagles-Chiefs: The Five Biggest Plays
The Philadelphia Eagles came up short in Super Bowl LVII when they squandered a 24-14 halftime lead and ended up on the wrong end of a 38-35 final.
Here's a ranking and breakdown of the five biggest plays of the game in terms of their impact on the outcome:
1. THE DEFENSIVE HOLDING PENALTY
In the final analysis, James Bradberry's holding penalty against JuJu Smith-Schuster didn't cost the Eagles the game because Kansas City already was in comfortable field goal range. What it did it cost them was the opportunity to be able to come back after Kansas City took the lead because the Chiefs were able to bleed the clock after getting a new set of downs with the penalty on third-and-8 with 1:48 left. As to whether it was the right call, let's just say there have been many similar plays that have gone uncalled and a "no call" in that situation wouldn't have created the social media uproar that the flag on Bradberry did.
2. THE PATRICK MAHOMES SCRAMBLE
As mentioned earlier, the Chiefs already were in position to take the lead even without the flag against Bradberry, and that was because of Patrick Mahomes' 26-yard scramble up the middle. It just so happened to be longer than any run he had in the regular season and it came with him playing on a bad ankle. The scramble on first-and-10 moved the ball from the Eagles 43 to the 17 one play before the two-minute warning.
3. THE JALEN HURTS FUMBLE
Quarterback Jalen Hurts played a very good, maybe even a great, game for the Eagles, but his fluky fumble in the first half was a major momentum swinger at a time when it looked like Philadelphia was poised to really take control of the game. Remember that it came on a third-and-5 from the Eagles 49 right after Isaac Seumalo was flagged for a false start on third-and-inches, a situation the Eagles logically would have converted. The Eagles had scored touchdowns on two of their first three drives, and another one here would have given them a 21-7 lead. Instead, it became 14-14. And even though the Eagles scored the final 10 points of the half, it didn't have quite the same impact.
4. THE KADARIUS TONEY PUNT RETURN
The Eagles had enough problems dealing with the Chiefs offense that they didn't need to give up a long punt return to make their job tougher. But that's what happened when Toney took a lower-than-ideal punt by Arryn Siposs and got around the right corner for a 65-yard return to the 5-yard line. It set up the touchdown that made it 35-27 for the Chiefs and put the Eagles in a position where they had to score and then hold off the Chiefs.
5. THE SKYY MOORE TOUCHDOWN
The two fourth-quarter Chiefs touchdowns were equally disappointing from an Eagles standpoint, as they led Toney and then Moore wide open on plays where the receivers motioned inside before turning around and going back outside. And both plays happened on third-and-goal where a stop could have forced a field goal attempt. What made the Moore touchdown maybe even worse is that it was almost a replay of the Toney touchdown, except on the left side of the offensive formation instead of the right. But Moore, like Toney, was ridiculously open for the easy pitch-and-catch with Mahomes.
Alain Poupart is a contributor for Eagles Today and is the publisher of All Dolphins for Fan Nation/SI. Follow him on Twitter at @PoupartNFL.
