The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday, but the outcome didn’t come without controversy.
With the game tied and just 1:54 remaining on the clock, Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was flagged for defensive holding on Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. The call wiped out what would have been a third-down stop for Philly and instead allowed KC to gain a fresh set of downs.
With the first down, the Chiefs were able to run out the clock and kick a game-winning field goal with eight seconds remaining to take home a 38-35 victory.
The ticky-tack call was enough to draw a strong reaction from Patriots legends, who threw their two cents in on the penalty. They might have wanted to wait for Bradberry’s reaction, however, as he admitted to the penalty postgame.
“It was a holding,” Bradberry said, per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni showed similar respect to the call.
“It’s not my job to make the call,” Sirianni said, per Twitter video shared by NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo. “Those guys have to do that in a split second. That’s what he saw and he called it. I know it all appears to be ‘It’s one call,’ but that’s not what it is.”
In the end, the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in the last four years. Patrick Mahomes took home his second Super Bowl MVP, leading a double-digit second-half rally against the Eagles.
