Super Bowl Recap: Philadelphia Eagles and Kendrick Lamar Reign Victorious

  On Sunday, February 9, 2025, the NFL took over the City of New Orleans for Super Bowl 59 between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Almost 66,000 people attended the event live, including current US President Donald Trump and singer/songwriter, billionaire recording artist and girlfriend of Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift. Millions more watched from home. The Super Bowl averaged a record audience of 127.7 million US viewers alone. And while many at home were rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, no one expected the game to go how it did.  

  This season was arguably the worst Kansa City Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has had in his career. There were also arguments that the refs cheated to get the Chiefs to the Super Bowl. The NFL has reported higher ratings when Taylor Swift is in attendance; combine that with a team on the hunt for their third championship in a row (we all know what it’s called but Pat Riley has trademarked the term, so I will not write it here), and you got a ratings jewel. That combined with clear plays where the refs showed blatant favoritism towards the Chiefs, and even those that didn’t watch football were rooting for the Eagles. And the Eagles balled out.  

  The main story line floating around on how the Chiefs could win was that they had to snuff out Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley. The Chiefs tried to do just that, forgetting that Saquon was only part of the Eagles’ run. The other part was QB Jalen Hurts, who had a rushing TD. In addition to being prepared for the Chiefs to go after Saquon, the Eagles also adjusted their defense. They were successfully able to shut down Patrick Mahomes, sacking him six times without blitzing him once. A blitz is a defensive strategy that involves multiple players rushing the quarterback to disrupt pass attempts. Being able to sack Mahomes multiple times without blitzing him was an incredible feat and fans loved it. Additionally, Eagles player Copper DeJean, intercepted the ball and ran it back for a touchdown and became the first player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl on his birthday at the age of 22. Finally, after watching a season of questionable calls, the officiating for once seemed fair. By the time halftime hit, it was 24-0, Philadelphia.  

  The halftime show was performed by Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick had been in headlines throughout the offseason for his beef with fellow rapper Drake. The beef cumulated into Kendrick making a song called Not Like Us, which went on to win 5 Grammys. It had also made headlines because Drake had sued UMG (Kendrick’s label) for defamation and harassment, over the song. Fans tuned in to see if Kendrick would perform the song. The symbolism in the halftime show itself went over many people’s heads and it requires its own article to break it down. In the show, Kendrick initially teased Not Like Us, telling some of his female backup dancers that he wants to perform it but “you know how they love to sue,” a direct nod at Drake’s lawsuit, before it switched to the female artist SZA who was performing with him. He did eventually perform Not Like Us, but made it a thousand times better. Walking across the stage during the song, Kendrick looked directly into the camera and performed the line “say Drake” before giving the most devilish smile. Then at the line “tryna strike chord and its probably A minor” everyone in the stadium (and probably at home too) hit the “A Minor” at the same time. Then to make matters worse (for Drake), tennis stair and 4 time Olympic Gold medalist, Serena Williams appeared doing a crip walk. Serena and Drake dated twice, in 2011 and 2015. She then married her husband in 2017, and Drake wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. The halftime show ended with all the lights in the stadium going down and the words Game Over appearing in the stands. Regardless of whether viewers got the symbolism (not involving Drake), the halftime show was record-breaking. Kendrick’s performance ended up being the most watched Super Bowl halftime show ever with 133.5 million viewers, breaking the previous record of 133.4 million viewers by Michael Jackson in 1993.  

  After Kendrick it was back to football. The Chiefs, looking rather defeated, managed to score 6 points in the third quarter, The Eagles scored an additional 10. In the 4th quarter the Chiefs scored 16 points, but by that point Philadelphia had pulled most of its starters out. It was a rally that came too late. The final score ended up being 40-22 Eagles, ending the Chiefs hopes of a third consecutive Super Bowl, much to glee of most football fans, who didn’t think they deserved to be there in the first place.