Eagles' Super Bowl LVII collapse joins 28-3 Falcons as one of largest chokes in NFL history
The Atlanta Falcons' collapse from leading 28-3 at halftime against the New England Patriots in 2017 was pretty much alone on the all-time list of Super Bowl chokes. However, at the conclusion of Super Bowl LVII, the Philadelphia Eagles joined the Falcons as the second team to surrender a double-digit second-half lead in a Super Bowl in NFL history.
Of course, the deficit wasn't nearly as big for Patrick Mahomes to cover this year as it was for Tom Brady in his comeback. Mahomes trailed 24-14 as the first half wrapped up. Before the final whistle of the first half, the team's backs were against the wall.
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Mahomes took a shot that appeared to aggravate his high-ankle sprain near the end of the half and was visibly limping. However, when the second half came around, he seemed to be as close to 100 percent as he felt when he entered the game.
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Near the end of the contest, the quarterback needed one final drive to salt the game away. Despite visibly limping before halftime, the quarterback managed to sprint down the field at seemingly full speed with no problems whatsoever. That set the team up within short field-goal range.
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However, the Eagles managed to keep some hope alive as they stopped them from getting a critical first down or a touchdown that would have essentially salted the game away.
That is, except for a penalty called on a shot taken in the end zone on third down. Had the play stood, the game would have been over.
Instead, the referee gave the Chiefs a first down on a holding call and allowed the team to effectively burn the clock down to almost nothing. The Eagles got one Hail Mary throw, which failed to reach the end zone.