Super Bowl LVII was played in Glendale, Arizona and brought the 2022-2023 National Football League season to a close.

On Feb. 12, the Philadelphia Eagles took on the Kansas City Chiefs in a matchup at State Farm Stadium. State Farm Stadium is the Arizona Cardinals’ home. This year, the Stadium hosted its first Super Bowl since 2015.

The Philadelphia Eagles had a successful season, going 14-3 throughout 2022 and 2023. The team took 1st place in the National Football Conference East division and maintained the best record within the entire NFC. With a strong quarterback, Jalen Hurts, the Eagles looked to make a statement in their first Super Bowl appearance since 2018, in which they emerged victorious.

The Kansas City Chiefs also had an incredible season led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs established a strong 14-3 record, taking first place in the American Football Conference West division and having the best record in the AFC. The Chiefs previously won the Super Bowl in 2020.

This year’s game began after a moving performance of the National Anthem by Chris Stapleton. The Eagles had the ball first and scored a touchdown thanks to the speed of Hurts, who put up a strong season with the Eagles. According to ESPN, Hurts was tenth in the NFL in passing yards and had 22 touchdowns.

The Chiefs immediately answered the Eagles with a touchdown of their own led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. What makes the game even more interesting is that Kelce was facing off against his twin brother Jason Kelce. The score was now tied 7-7.

Moorpark Raider football player Justin Ogle recently committed to Mount Marty University. Ogle watched this year’s Super Bowl and spoke on his favorite moments from the game.

“My favorite moment of the game was definitely the Travis Kelce touchdown because he is a great player to watch,” Ogle said. “I would definitely say this game was not predictable as both teams were very strong teams.”

The teams continued to battle back and forth while keeping the scoring even. When the Eagles scored, the Chiefs would answer with fervor of their own. However, at the end of the second quarter, Eagles’ Hurts rushed a four-yard touchdown followed by a finished kick by Jake Elliot. Elliot kicked a clean field goal to bring the score to 24-14 at halftime.

Following the Rihanna halftime show, the Kansas City Chiefs looked to rebound and bring the score up in their favor. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles looked to add on to their ten-point lead.

The Chiefs started off strong and scored a touchdown with a one-yard rush from Isiah Pacheco. Kicker Harrison Butker had a successful kick for the extra point, bringing the score to 21-24 as the Chiefs closely approached the Eagle’s lead. But, by the end of the third quarter, Eagles’ Elliot successfully kicked a 33-yd field goal, giving the Eagles a 27-21 lead.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were still looking to send the Eagles back to Philadelphia empty-handed. The Eagles, on the other hand, were hoping to cushion their growing lead.

Chiefs’ Mahomes has competed before in the Super Bowl but faced a foot injury that could’ve hindered him from performing well in this year’s matchup. However, Mahomes’ injury looked to be nonexistent as he opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown, assisted by wide receiver Kadarius Toney. Mahomes then followed this touchdown with another successful throw. The kicks for both touchdowns helped the Chiefs take a 35-27 lead over the Eagles, who had been unsuccessful in scoring in the fourth quarter.

Still, Eages’ Hurts did not let Mahomes’ performance dull his spotlight and answered with a rushing touchdown into the end zone. Hurts then went for the two-point conversion that added to his rushing touchdown to tie the game 35-35, with five minutes to play.

With the game tied and the Chiefs in possession, the Kansas City team had to get close enough to their end zone for kicker Butker to finish job. The Chiefs were successful in this as Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal, winning the game 38-35.

The most talked about part of the game was likely the holding call that decided the game as the Eagles pushed to overtake the Chiefs. The play involved Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Shuster and cornerback James Bradberry. The holding call led to a penalty for the Eagles and gave an automatic first down to the Chiefs in which they ran the clock down and kicked the game-winning field goal.

The 2023 Super Bowl MVP was awarded to Mahomes, who now has two Super Bowl MVPs in his collection. Some highlights of his performance include scoring three touchdowns and throwing almost 200 passing yards. Furthermore, Mahomes scored on every possession and erased a 10-point deficit in the second half. According to a tweet from NFL Research, the Kansas City Chiefs are the second team to ever accomplish this feat, the only other group being the New England Patriots in Superbowl LVI.

Whether the Superbowl ending was considered anticlimactic or rigged based on the holding call is up for debate. Ogle chose to reflect on the game as a whole.

“I think that [the game] was a good one,” Ogle said. “It was very close for most of the game and it was a pretty clean game as well.”

The 2023 Super Bowl was one for the books. Whether it was the Hurt’s sheer athleticism or Mahomes’ superstar caliber, the game was action-packed and filled with memorable highlights. The football season has come to a close, and fans can now watch their favorite teams make off-season moves in preparation for the next season.