Super Bowl LIX Recap: End of the Dynasty?
Students sporting Eagles jerseys during a Super Bowl LIX watch party. (Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
This article originally appeared on pages 20 and 21 of the No. 4 February 2025 edition of The Gettysburgian magazine.
By John Towey and Hailey Clark, Staff Writers
Who had a worse night: Drake or Patrick Mahomes? Super Bowl Sunday is a coveted American holiday. Two teams face off in what is supposed to be the most highly anticipated game of the year. However, the matchup this year was unsurprising and unexciting, but maybe we’re biased as Giants and Commanders fans. Regardless, the Chiefs were looking to dominate the NFL with their third consecutive Super Bowl, a feat that has never been accomplished. And so, most of America was looking to Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to save them from seeing the Chiefs succeed again.
Hosting a record 11 Super Bowls, New Orleans opened the doors of the Caesars Superdome to thousands of attendees and a record 127.7 million viewers at home. America was tuned in to witness one of Patrick Mahomes’ worst games in his seven-year career and the rise of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Kansas City Chiefs were a tale of two teams this season. On one hand, their 15-2 record showed total domination. However, when you looked closely at the team, some things didn’t add up. A few different bounces of the ball and the Chiefs could have easily had an 8-9 record or worse. Some notable instances are a blocked field goal against Denver, a late Raiders fumble and a double-doink field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Their strategy for their success was their fantastic defense, which compensated for their inconsistent offense. DC Steve Spagnuolo is one of the greatest defensive minds in the league, having won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants and three with Kansas City.
Something was missing from Kansas City’s offense this season. It was probably the left tackle. Patrick Mahomes put up average numbers, which is a disappointment, considering the additions of wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and DeAndre Hopkins. Going into the game, Kansas City was favored by 1.5 points.
Things were not looking good for the Philadelphia Eagles at their bye week. They were sitting at a 2-2 record and coming off a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a less-than-ideal start for the team, considering they lost five of their last six games last season before a wild card blowout loss.
The pressure was on Nick Sirianni, who was working with new coordinators for the second season in a row. Could he salvage the team? Luckily for him, he made the right hires. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio subbed out Avonte Maddox as slot cornerback and started second-round pick Cooper DeJean. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore shifted his offense to be more run-focused to utilize Saquon Barkley.
The Eagles’ turnaround would not have been possible without several strong off-season additions. The biggest signing was Giants running back Barkley, but they also elevated their secondary by signing safety CJ Garnder-Johnson and drafting Quinyon Mitchell in the first round and Cooper DeJean in the second. The most surprising success has been inside linebacker Zack Baun, who was a backup outside linebacker through most of his career but switched to the inside this season to great success. Similarly, the Eagles signed Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton to guard, where he has seen even more success than his previous role.
It was clear that the Eagles were going to dominate the Chiefs immediately. The second unanswered touchdown had many questioning Mahomes’ ability to achieve his signature comeback. The first quarter was uneventful, with punt after punt until the end when Hurts ran up the middle and scored the first points of the game.
The second quarter went just like the first, with Elliott kicking for the Eagles to give them a 10-0 lead. Then Mahomes started to slip up, and the Eagles were unofficially cemented as Super Bowl LIX champions. DeJean’s pick six gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead and Mahomes threw another interception that allowed AJ Brown to score yet another touchdown for the Eagles. Philadelphia ended the first half up 24 points, leaving Kansas City in the dust.
The halftime show is always looked forward to, as some of the greatest artists take the biggest stage, and this year was no exception. Kendrick Lamar’s performance was rife with symbolism from Samuel L. Jackson’s appearance as Uncle Sam to his not-so-subtle referencing of Drake.
The show started with Jackson popping up as Uncle Sam and introducing Lamar’s set as “The Great American Game.” Then Lamar took the stage, but Uncle Sam declared many of his songs to be “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” leading Lamar to perform some of his more well-known songs.
But that didn’t stop Lamar from making bold statements throughout his show. The largest was through the symbolism of the American flag. During his performance of “Humble.”, dancers dressed in red, white and blue were positioned to create a divide, symbolizing the current divide in American politics.
Perhaps the most newsworthy part of the Super Bowl Halftime Show was Kendrick Lamar’s dissing of Drake. The two rappers have an ongoing feud, but after the release of Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” things between the two had died down. Until Lamar was up to perform on the nation’s biggest stage, and America wanted him to play his five-time Grammy-winning diss track. He even teased the audience with its infamous beat and reference to Drake’s lawsuit against it before he played the song toward the end of his set. Lamar even brought out SZA and Serena Williams, two of Drake’s exes to rub in his victory. Lamar’s performance at the Super Bowl was not what many expected, but it was a poetic reflection on American history and politics as well as the final blow to Drake.
The second half started slow with a Kansas City punt and a Philadelphia field goal. At this point, a Chiefs’ comeback truly felt beyond possibility. It looked like Matt Nagy and Andy Reid could not adjust their offense. It is hard to say whether it was the departure of OC Eric Bieniemy or WR Tyreek Hill a few seasons ago that started Kansas City’s decline in offensive production, but this game certainly felt like an exposure of gaps that had previously gone unnoticed.
Jalen Hurts hit DeVonta Smith for a precise 46-yard touchdown that effectively iced the game toward the end of the third quarter, putting the Eagles up 34-0.
Kansas City began to fight back with a touchdown to Worthy but failed the two-point conversion. Philadelphia ended the third quarter with a field goal and started the fourth by recovering a Kansas City fumble.
The fourth quarter saw another Eagles field goal with a score of 40-6. Kansas City was able to score two more touchdowns and complete the two-point conversions, leaving them down 40-22. The second touchdown was a remarkable 50-yard dot by Mahomes for Worthy again.
Several groups on campus held watch parties for this year’s big game. Dining services served Kansas City loaded fries and Philly poppers, allowing students to pick their desired team. The Newman Association held a wing dinner and a watch party as well as RISE House. The rest of campus were watching privately, but the energy was electric when the Eagles won their second Super Bowl. Chants and cries could be heard from the dorms all throughout campus and a group of students gathered on Stine Lake in celebration.
All in all, while it might not have been the most competitive Super Bowl, it had memorable highlights and a strong halftime performance. It remains to be seen if the Philadelphia Eagles can continue to capitalize on their strong roster and if Kansas City will be able to bounce back in the future.
