After months — if not years — of anticipation, New Orleans became the “center of the universe,” as someone I overheard called it, with Super Bowl 59. A record-breaking 126 million viewers from across the world tuned in to watch the Super Bowl Sunday matchup between the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. In a rematch of Super Bowl 57 two years ago, the Eagles got the last laugh as they came out fast and never let up, cruising to a dominant 40-22 victory, crushing the Chiefs’ hopes of becoming the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls.
With so much commotion to cover, I felt it would be best to break down all the festivities into the classic sports breakdown of “winners” and “losers” of Super Bowl 59. My goal is to get to the meat of this article faster than the Eagles’ win, which is pretty much impossible, but I’ll give it a try.
Winners:
The City of New Orleans
As a resident of New Orleans for the past three and a half years, it was amazing to see how much the NFL did to benefit the city, and how seamlessly everything went. While the Super Bowl undoubtedly helped the city of New Orleans immensely, I was admittedly very worried about such a massive influx of NFL fans arriving in New Orleans just weeks after the terrorist attack in the early hours of New Year’s Day. But as I’ve grown to realize, this city is inspirationally resilient. New spotlights and barricades were placed all over Downtown to ensure everyone would be protected, and with massive names coming to the city for the game, including President Donald Trump and Taylor Swift, the city successfully managed to avoid any issues whatsoever.
The NFL also chose all Louisiana natives to be the pre-game performers, including three New Orleans natives. Jon Batiste, who performed the national anthem, Trombone Shorty, Lauren Daigle and Ledisi all hail from Louisiana, with only Lauren Daigle, a Lafayette native, coming from outside the city. While many fans were hoping to see superstar New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne perform the Apple Music halftime show, it was still a massive success for New Orleans.
Kendrick Lamar
While the show has received mixed reviews, rapper Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance has already helped him see significant boosts on Spotify. Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us” saw a 430 percent jump in Spotify streams since his halftime performance, and Lamar has seen a 175% increase overall. This rise in streams is huge for Kendrick Lamar as he prepares to begin his “Grand National Tour” in April. The Apple Music Super Bowl halftime continues to magnify some of the greatest stars in music, and Kendrick Lamar is next in line as a massive beneficiary.
Jalen Hurts
There was no better player on the field Sunday than Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts had an outstanding game, completing 17 of his 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 72 yards and another touchdown, en route to his first Super Bowl MVP award. After coming up short in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs two years ago, Hurts got his revenge with an outstanding game that was never truly in doubt.
Kellen Moore
Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore didn’t have to go far to accept his new job after celebrating the Super Bowl victory. Actually, he didn’t have to go anywhere at all. Reports surfaced less than 24 hours before kickoff that Moore was prepared to accept the New Orleans Saints head coaching vacancy after the conclusion of the Super Bowl, and while it was a reason for celebration for him, it left many Eagles’ fans upset, as they felt he was not focused on preparing for the Super Bowl. While those concerns were certainly fair, Moore did not seem unprepared as the Eagles’ offense got off to a fast start and looked as good as they have all season in the win on Sunday. Moore hoisted the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, and is being rewarded for it handsomely, as he has been officially announced as the New Orleans Saints’ head coach. Kellen Moore, grab your hand grenade and take a bow.
Losers:
Patrick Mahomes
If you watched the game Sunday, this doesn’t need an explanation. Kansas City Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was absolutely dreadful, throwing two interceptions in the first half inside their own 25-yard line, including one that was returned for a touchdown by Eagles’ rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean. At halftime, the Kansas City Chiefs were down 24-0, and the lead got to 34-0 before the Chiefs finally woke up and scored a few times to avoid the shutout. Mahomes’ legacy took a massive hit from this performance, too, as his name was being thrown around in the GOAT conversation alongside Tom Brady as he looked to win his third Super Bowl in a row for the first time in NFL history. With this showing, however, Mahomes has lost a lot of ground on Brady and will likely need several more Super Bowl wins to erase this game from the minds of NFL fans.
NFL fans – aside from Eagles fans
I mentioned it already, but this game was simply uncompetitive. NFL fans hoping for a close game between two outstanding teams were sorely disappointed, and unless you are a die-hard Eagles fan, a petty hater of Mahomes or the Chiefs in general, you couldn’t have enjoyed the outcome of this game. FanDuel Sportsbook had just a 1.5-point spread for the game, inferring that oddsmakers were expecting a tightly contested game. Nobody could have anticipated the sheer domination the Eagles displayed, and while the weekend was a massive success, the outcome of this game is going to likely result in one of the most disappointing Super Bowls in recent memory.
