The debate surrounding the defensive holding penalty on Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry that all but officially sealed Super Bowl 57 for the Kansas City Chiefs will undoubtedly be a never-ending one that offers no resolve.
It’ll forever remain an “excuse” for the Eagles while Chiefs fans will have to unnecessarily jump into defense mode in justifying the call, protecting Patrick Mahomes’ legacy, and further detailing that KC destroyed Philly in the second half, regardless of the one decision from the refs that altered a potential scoring response.
The reality is this: the Eagles got away with a number of infractions on the evening and had their league-best defense exposed. They were the second team in NFL history to blow a 10-point lead (or more) at halftime. If you want to blame the refs, go ahead until you’re blue in the face. Philly’s defense surrendered 31 points with or without the holding call, which is enough to lose any game, and 24 of those came in the second half.
If Chiefs fans were on the other end of this, it’s obvious there would be an uproar, but at the very least, they wouldn’t embarrass themselves like this.
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Michael Barkann may as well have been a local radio caller with his response to the penalty and how he squarely placed blame on the officiating.
Eagles anaylst loses his mind over penalty that helped Chiefs in Super Bowl 57
Ah, yes, the Eagles were the only team to endure a 17-game season and some injury adversity on the way! Never heard of such path to the Super Bowl. Barkann acting as if this team faced some sort of insurmountable uphill battle against all odds only to be screwed by a yellow flag is preposterous.
Philly started the season 8-0! They had one of the easiest schedules in the entire NFL (they faced four playoff teams). They were 13-1 when Hurts got injured and lost both games he didn’t play … which saw them fall to 13-3. Wahhhhh.
Meanwhile, outside of losing Tyreek Hill in the offseason, Kansas City had to deal with a hobbled Mahomes in three playoff games and lost one of their key weapons in Mecole Hardman for the postseason. Their best receiver heading into the Super Bowl was JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Eagles CB James Bradberry on the holding penalty ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fo6mgi9YrL
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 13, 2023
Meanwhile, the Eagles had, on paper, the league’s best roster that wasn’t hindered by any injuries or massive free agent departures. They dominated the first half, the Chiefs went offsides twice to keep long scoring drives alive, Harrison Butker missed an easy field goal to shift the momentum back to Philly, and only eight total penalties were called before Bradberry’s hold of Smith-Schuster.
KC’s 38-35 victory may have been achieved a bit easier thanks to the holding call, but it by no means “decided” the game. It just so happened at the perfect time for the saltiest of the salty to point the finger and absolve any fault elsewhere. Barkann’s rant embodied just that in what’s become a sad state of affairs for Philly fans in desperate need to cope.
James Bradberry owns up to holding call in Super Bowl LVII
Eagles cornerback James Bradberry admitted after the game that he was hoping his defensive holding would slide without the refs calling it.