As the Kanas City Chiefs took the field for Super Bowl 59, tensions were high but one might have believed the nerves belonged to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs had been there before, several times in fact. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was taking the Super Bowl stage for the fifth time in his career and he's not even 30 years old. This was becoming normal for the 3-time Super Bowl champion.
But, as the game began, it was, in fact, the Eagles who took off and showed no signs of nerves. It was the Eagles who shocked the Chiefs by coming out blistering hot on both sides of the football.
It got bad. And it happened real quick. Before you could blink, it seemed, the game felt like it was out of control.
As the Chiefs and Eagles went into the locker room for half time, Kansas City found themselves down by a score of 24-0. It was, by all accounts, the worst first half of football the Chiefs had played all season long.
And, for any fans wanting to mention Week 18 against the Denver Broncos, we're not including that game for obvious reasons.
Kansas City's offense had totaled just 23 net yards while averaging a measly 1.2 yards per play in the first half against the Eagles.
Patrick Mahomes was shockingly bad in the first half of Super Bowl 59
As for Mahomes? Fans were not used to seeing him like this. He looked nothing like the Mahomes this fan base was accustomed to watching every week.
At the half, Mahomes was just 6-of-14 for 33 yards. He had thrown two interceptions and owned a quarterback rating of only 10.7. Mahomes was also sacked three times for a total loss of 13 yards.
His two interceptions were throws that, normally, Mahomes wouldn't have made. He didn't look like himself. Both of his first half interceptions came on plays where the veteran quarterback somehow did not see the nearest defender.
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The first interception even added some extra insult as the Eagles' Cooper DeJean returned it for a touchdown.
The run game didn't help Mahomes out a whole lot in the first half, either. Kansas City ran it only three times for three yards. Now, there's an argument that could be made about Andy Reid not committing to the run, even when the game was far from out of hand.
Not running it well, not passing it well and turning the football over is going to add up to a monstrous first half deficit, and that is exactly what happened for Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Eagles nearly doubled-up the Chiefs in time of possession as well.
No turnovers for Philly and averaging almost four times the amount of yards per play as Kansas City also put the Eagles in a dominant position.
Again, it wasn't pretty. It was far from what Chiefs Kingdom was used to watching.
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