Eagles Open 24-14 Lead over Chiefs at Halftime of Super Bowl LVII

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Oh, the guts of Nick Sirianni, and the derring-do of Jalen Hurts.

The Eagles’ combination teamed up to help lead the Eagles to three first-half touchdowns as Philly opened a 24-14 halftime lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

The Eagles head coach, who was an emotional mess, tears streaming down his face during Chris Stapleton’s rendition of the National Anthem, showed a lot of faith in his quarterback, just as he has all season.

On fourth-and-five from the Chiefs’ 46-yard line, Sirianni called a draw for Hurts.

The QB found wide-open green space inside State Farm Stadium to pick up 28 yards. A few plays later, Hurts finished off the drive with a 4-yard TD run to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead with 2:24 to play in the second quarter.

It was a huge bounce-back drive for Hurts, who lost a fumble on the previous possession that was scooped up by KC linebacker Nick Bolton who raced 36 yards for a touchdown that evened the game at 14-14 with 9:29 to go until halftime.

Hurts, though, answered.

He started a drive that would go 75 yards in 7:19, using 12 plays, with a 12-yard run. His fourth-down run was big but so was another fourth-down conversion. Facing fourth-and-two at the KC 8, Derrick Nnadi was called for a neutral zone infraction.

The Chiefs won the coin toss and elected to defer, choosing to give the Eagles the ball to start the game.

Philly has been deadly all season with their opening possessions, scoring on their first possession in 10 of their last 13 games (8 TDs, 2 FGs).

In the playoffs, they scored TDs on their first possession. They did it again, promptly taking a 7-0 lead in the Super Bowl.

Hurts finished it with the first of his two scores, this one a 1-yard plunge.

Kansas City wasted no time tying it on an 18-yard TD from Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce.

Hurts was at it again, connecting on a 45-yard to A.J. Brown, who beat KC rookie CB Trent McDuffie in the end zone for the score to make it 14-7 Eagles.

After giving up a TD on KC’s first possession, the Eagles' defense kept Mahomes in check, sending him off limping when T.J. Edwards made an open-field tackle as the Kansas City quarterback was trying to run for a first on third-and-15. He picked up three yards and the Chiefs had to punt.

Britain Covey had a career-high 27-yard punt return to give the Eagles good field position they cashed into a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the opening half.

Aside from the fumble, Hurts was brilliant in the first half. He had two rushing scores and threw for another while completing 17 of 22 passes for 183 yards. He ran for 63 yards, putting him two yards away from breaking Steve McNair’s record for most yards rushing in a Super Bowl.

Brown had three catches for 74 yards.

Mahomes was 8-for-13 with 89 yards and one TD pass.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.