Super Bowl LVII provided monumental entertainment last Sunday and it showcased a gutsy performance by quarterback (QB) Patrick Mahomes for the Kansas City Chiefs in their 38–35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles — Mahomes was fittingly crowned most valuable player (MVP) of the game as he orchestrated an offensive clinic. The Chiefs dialled up more variance, more check downs and they (unexpectedly) ran the ball more, and in doing all that, the offence opened up and the deep plays were on full display, particularly in the second half.

An unfortunate theme for the game was the slippery field conditions at State Farm Stadium, noting that the weather was not a factor. Apparently, the paint that was applied to the surface created the treacherous condition, it was dreadful and a total embarrassment for the National Football League (NFL).

In a contest that started off with the impression that it would turn out to be a high-powered offensive display, the Eagles were able to go toe-to-toe, and built up a first-half advantage. Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts (the league runner-up MVP) proved to be a formidable foe as he went for 304 yards in the air and a touchdown. He added another 70 yards on the ground — a Super Bowl record for a QB — and tied a Super Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns — also a Super Bowl record for a QB. However, the highly touted Philadelphia pass rush couldn’t get to Mahomes, which contributed to them faltering in the second half and coming up a little bit short.

Trailing by 10 points at half-time and, more significantly, hobbled by a reinjured right ankle, Mahomes under the guidance of Head Coach Andy Reid put together an offensive masterclass during the final 30 minutes of the game. The Chiefs scored on each of their four second-half drives: three touchdowns and a 12-play march to set up a Harrison Butker field goal for the final points of the game. They outscored the Eagles 24-11 in the second half to ensure their second title in three trips to the Super Bowl in four years, including five straight appearances in the American Football Conference (AFC) title game.

Mahomes, after being voted The Associated Press (AP) NFL MVP last week, became the first MVP to win the Super Bowl since QB Kurt Warner in 1999 and placed him in a short list of only 11 players to do so, but only just the seventh QB — the others being Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers, 1996), Steve Young (San Francisco 49ers, 1994), Joe Montana (49ers, 1989), Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers, 1978) and Bart Starr (Packers, 1966). That being his second regular season MVP award (the first was in 2018), along with his second Super Bowl MVP award last Sunday, places him with Joe Montana and Tom Brady as the only QBs with multiple league plus multiple Super Bowl MVP trophies.

The previous nine AP NFL MVPs to play in the Super Bowl the same year lost the game, and the last to do so was Tom Brady, whose New England Patriots lost in Super Bowl LII to the Eagles. Additionally, Super Bowl LVII was the fourth instance in which the MVP and MVP runner-up have played against each other, but in the previous three showdowns, the runner-up took home the prize.

And while Mahomes defied the odds and became the only player this century to capture the league’s highest on-field honour and win a Super Bowl in the same season, his head coach became the first-ever to defeat this former team in a Super Bowl — Andy Reid, the winningest coach in Eagles’ history, spent 14 seasons with the team and guided them to five NFC title game appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl in 2004. All in all, the Super Bowl was spectacular, and it came down to the wire between the best two teams in the league this year. Hurts had one of the greatest statistical performances in Super Bowl history, but the Chiefs had championship experience and Mahomes in their favour.

The ratings for the Chiefs’ win over the Eagles last Sunday was up slightly from last year’s Cincinnati Bengals vs Los Angeles Rams contest, but it did not set a Super Bowl ratings record. Fox drew 113 million viewers across English and Spanish television and its digital platforms, while NBC generated 112.4 million viewers for last year’s Super Bowl. The 2015 game between New England and the Seattle Seahawks on NBC holds the record at 114.4 million viewers.

The half-time show featuring Rihanna — who famously turned down the opportunity in 2019 in support of former QB Colin Kaepernick — drew 118.7 million viewers, surpassing the viewers for the game itself, and became the most-watched half-time show of all time ahead of Katy Perry (with singer Lenny Kravitz and rapper Missy Elliott as special guests) in 2015 with 114.4 million. Mahomes was asked on Monday if he watched the half-time show to which he responded, “I didn’t, but I heard it was great. Coach Reid told us, ‘If you go out to watch the performance, just keep walking because you’re not playing the rest of the game’.” We can only assume the warning paid off, based on how the Chiefs closed the game.

In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, LeBron James overtook Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the National Basketball Association (NBA) all-time scoring leader and the NBA had its trade deadline on February 9, 2023, where a flurry of hair-raising deals were made which included a seismic shift for the Brooklyn Nets. In one of the wildest trade-deadline weeks ever, where roughly 375 second-round draft picks changed hands, the stock of the Nets plummeted as two future Hall of Famers — Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant — were acquired by the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns, respectively.

Durant’s blockbuster move shook up the power balance in both the Eastern and Western conferences and will define the stage for the upcoming title chase following All-Star Weekend, which starts today and goes through to Sunday. The Mavericks and Suns will be bolstered by the new members in their respective locker rooms and, added to the talent pool that already existed, the Western Conference is going to be a dog fight.

All-Star weekend will feature Team Giannis versus Team LeBron in the All-Star game on Sunday but the following events on Saturday night should not be overlooked:

• The Skills Challenge will feature nine participants: the Antetokounmpo brothers — Giannis, Thanasis and Alex, three Utah Jazz players (Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton) and three rookies (Paolo Banchero, Jaden Ivey and Jabari Smith Jr)

• The Three-Point Contest with some familiar names: Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro, Buddy Hield, Kevin Huerter, Damian Lillard, Lauri Markkanen, Anfernee Simons, and Jayson Tatum.

• The Slam Dunk Contest will feature four relatively untested players (all age 24 or younger): Kenyon Martin Jr, Mac McClung, Trey Murphy III and Jericho Sims.

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