The Super Bowl is a yearly American event that determines the champion of the NFL (National Football League) for the season. The event that started in 1967 has become the world’s most-watched single sporting event and the biggest media event of the year. Lasting nearly 4 hours and garnering hundreds of millions of viewers, to the point that companies spend on average nearly 8 million dollars for a 30-second ad spot.
This year’s Super Bowl, Super Bowl LIX, was a rematch of the Super Bowl LVII [the game from two years ago], featuring the NFC champion team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the AFC champion team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Before the game started, multiple musical performances were given, including the US national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and the African American national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, performed by Trombone Shorty, Lauren Daigle, and Ledisi, respectively.
To kick off the game, the Chiefs won the coin toss but chose to defer, which allowed the Eagles to select who would start with the ball. They decided to let the Chiefs kick off and allow the Eagles to play for the first down.
In the first quarter, the Eagles were the only team to score, with Jalen Hurts scoring a 1-yard touchdown and Jake Elliott kicking for a full score of 7.
In the second quarter, the Eagles didn’t hold back and were able to score two touchdowns and one field goal. These were made by Cooper DeJean with a pick 6 and a 38-yard run, AJ Brown with a 12-yard pass from Hurts, and another Jake Elliott kick from the 48-yard line.
Kendrick Lamar performing at the Superbowl, courtesy of Bob Kupbens/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The halftime show featured Kendrick Lamar, who, leading up to this, won 5 Grammys for the song “Not Like Us.”. Kendrick also brought out big names like Samuel L. Jackson, SZA, DJ Mustard, and Serena Williams. Lamar performed songs from his new album GNX and singles from the summer during the dispute with Drake.
Many viewers and fans were underwhelmed and outraged by the performance. Some called it the worst halftime show in history, not inclusive, and bad, with other comments including a call for a show that entertains everyone and “actual musicians.”. other comments were criticizing the NFL for their choices for the past Super Bowl performances and the performances coming up, in a comment saying, “The NFL must be trying to lose fans, I guess.”
Even with all the outrage, the showy performance broke the previous record for the most watched Superbowl halftime show in history with 133.5 million viewers, a record which was set by Michael Jackson in 1993 with 133.4 million viewers.
Getty Images
In the second half of the game, the Eagles continued to dominate. In the third quarter, the Eagles scored a touchdown by DeVonta Smith and a field goal by Jake Elliott. But the Chiefs were able to make their first touchdown with a 24-yard pass from Mahomes to Xavier Worthy.
Rounding out the last quarter, the Eagles made 2 more field goals by Elliott from the 50 and 48-yard line, and the Chiefs, in an attempt to make a 4th quarter comeback made 2 touchdowns by DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy, respectively. But this attempt wasn’t enough, and the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl 58.
After the game the two quarterbacks had this to say about each other: “I said it after the first Super Bowl we played against them; I said he would be back, and he was, and he got the better of me today. I’m sure we’ll face again at some point in our careers in a big game like this.” Jalen said this: “I have the utmost respect for him as a player. Things come right on time and you know, the last Super Bowl wasn’t our time yet. Sometimes we have to accept that you have to wait your turn.” In the coming years, we may yet see another Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl.
Featured image: Caesars Superdome exterior courtesy of Atlanta journal-constitution
