Photo: Mike Clemens
Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and scrambled for 26 yards on the final drive ahead of Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give the Chiefs a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57. It is Kansas City’s third title in franchise history. The game winning kick came with some controversy as even many Chiefs fans on social media thought the Chiefs caught a break.
On 3rd and 8 from the Eagles 15 yard line, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass in the endzone but a defensive holding call came against Eagles player James Bradberry. Replays made it difficult to see if he actually held JuJu Smith-Schuster during his route. Greg Olsen, the analyst on Fox, thought it should have been let go, their rules expert Mike Pereira said it was the right call.
After the game, Bradberry put any controversy to rest.
James Bradberry: I pulled on his jersey. They called it. I was hoping they would let it ride. pic.twitter.com/JwCi4laT56
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) February 13, 2023
The reason the call was important is had the play been ruled incomplete, Butker still would have attempted and probably made the field goal from 32 yards out, but the Eagles would have had one timeout and 1:54 seconds to try to drive the field for a game tying field goal attempt or a touchdown to win the game. That penalty gave the Chiefs an automatic first down and allowed them to run the clock down just seconds setting up a short 27 yard field goal for Butker.