Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean (33) celebrates after returning an interception for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs in the second quarter in Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
As Kendrick Lamar prepares to take the stage for the halftime show, here are some first-half thoughts from Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Eagles. The Eagles currently lead the Chiefs 24-0.
Coming into the game, the biggest weakness for the Chiefs was their offensive line. At halftime, they might need to find out how to clone Joe Thuney so he can play both left tackle and left guard, because Vic Fangio's defense has been blowing the Chiefs' offensive line off the field so far.
Josh Sweat has been arguably the best player on the field so far with 1 1/2 sacks and a pair of quarterback hits. He also pressured Mahomes late in the first half, leading to a pick by Zack Baun deep in Chiefs territory. That eventually turned into an A.J. Brown touchdown reception, giving the Eagles a 23-0 lead:
Zack Baun appreciation tweet ✅
pic.twitter.com/96pfpdhlaR
Earlier in the first half, Cooper DeJean increased the Eagles' lead to 16-0 with a pick-six. It was his first career interception, and it came on his 22nd birthday:
COOPER DEJEAN LFGGGGG! 💪
pic.twitter.com/iymixYUaYa
Mahomes is having one of the worst games of his illustrious career, with six completions in 14 attempts for just 33 yards and two picks. He's been sacked three times.
Two years ago when James Bradberry was called for a holding penalty that essentially sealed an Eagles loss in Super Bowl LVII, I didn't say a word because I thought it was the correct call and knew it would be career suicide in Philadelphia to go out of my way to point that out.
The reason I bring that up is because a call again went in the favor of the Chiefs to halt the first drive of the game, and this time, I've got nothing.
Jalen Hurts hooked up with A.J. Brown for a 32-yard gain on fourth-and-two, only to have it overturned because of an offensive pass interference call:
This was called OPI on AJ Brown. Right call? 🤔
pic.twitter.com/jWy1nVITGN
It wasn't just the Eagles-heavy crowd at the Caesars Superdome that didn't like this call. Tom Brady didn't. Mike Pereria — FOX's rules analyst — didn't either:
Tom Brady criticized the refs: "Let the players play. I don't like that call." https://t.co/ScCckG1D9H
After a couple weeks of talk about how controversial calls always seem to go in the favor of the Chiefs — whether fair or unfair — Roger Goodell's heart probably skipped a beat watching this play out.
In the interest of being fair, the next Eagles drive was extended by what also appeared to be a ticky-tack call:
Another interesting call: Trent McDuffie called for unnecessary roughness on this hit to Dallas Goedert. pic.twitter.com/ul6iKIohNm
The NFL absolutely needs to protect the safety of players, particularly their heads. But these type of things need to be eligible to be overturned by replay assist because every time a player's helmet gets grazed, it can't be a penalty.
In general, debuting something new on a broadcast in the Super Bowl isn't a great idea. People don't like change. But if you're going to debut something new, try it in the preseason. If it sucks, you can bag it. Even if it's good, it will take time for people to get used to it.
But FOX could have debuted this scorebug for a high school game and social media still would have been lit up with people complaining about it:
Thoughts on the new Fox Sports scoreboard bug? pic.twitter.com/oanwGufGqe
Why is it transparent? Why do the letters look larger than the font on a senior citizen's cell phone? It's hard to believe this scorebug made it past focus testing.
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