Super Bowl LIX: A Few Thoughts

Super Bowl LIX is in the books as they say, I stayed up all night in the UK to watch the event here are some quick thoughts on ‘the Big Game’.

Who won Super Bowl LIX?

The Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22, and it wasn’t even that close.

Kansas City came into the game having won the last two Super Bowls and going for what would have been a historic hattrack of titles. It emerged that legendary basketball coach Pat Riley had a trademark on the expression ‘three-peat’ and prior to the game, it was agreed that the Chiefs could use this expression should they desire. 

This was perfect bulletin board material to fire up the Eagles, defensive tackle Milton Williams later said: “They were talking about getting the copyright and all that B.S. Throw that shit in the trash.” 

The Eagles could also watch their previous matchup from 2023’s Super Bowl LVII to motivate themselves; the teams were largely unchanged since then. 

The Chiefs on the other hand looked sluggish from the start, this final game was bridge too far.

How did the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl?

The first quarter was low-scoring, giving the impression that it could be an attritional battle. This wouldn’t last. The Eagles’ defensive line dominated and had constant pressure on Patrick Mahomes. Cooper DeJean returned an interception for a touchdown midway through the second quarter, stretching the lead to 17-0. The game was all but over.

By the end of the first half ESPN listed the Eagles win probability at 98%. In the second half, Mahomes played better and added a couple of meaningless touchdowns, but it was merely window dressing. 

The Chiefs have some large questions to answer during the off-season with a lot of their core players on the wrong side of 30.

How was Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show?

With such a lack of intrigue in the game, the interest in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show only increased, and he delivered an iconic performance. The anticipation of his performance almost overshadowed the game itself for non-NFL fans.

A week after he claimed five Grammy Awards for his devastating Drake diss ‘Not Like Us’, and also while being sued by the Canadian rapper, people questioned whether Kendrick would even perform the song.

Kendrick teased his big hit twice during his performance as he worked through standout tracks from his 2024 GNX album. In the week we learned that Kendrick Lamar and Timothée Chalamet have the same stylist; it certainly looks like the Compton MC borrowed his jeans from Chalamet’s mum.

The halftime show was more of a hardcore rap concert than a huge, dance-orientated trip through the hits.

The whole time, Samuel L. Jackson was egging Kendrick on, goading him like Uncle Ruckus in an Uncle Sam costume.

DJ Mustard even got to come out and enjoy the moment, Mustard, one of the big winners of the beef. As evidenced by the fact that he now has his own Heinz advert.

With Jay-Z in charge of booking acts since 2020, the quality of performances has improved from the cultural low point of the Maroon 5 / Travis Scott / Big Boi show. This year featured the biggest rapper at the height of his powers, stamping out any lingering belief that he didn’t win the war.

It was a fitting halftime show as we thought the game would be a titanic matchup between two evenly matched opponents, but it slowly turned into a lopsided embarrassment for both Drake and Mahomes.

How was the Fox TV Coverage?

Donald Trump’s puppet TV channel, Fox had the rights and began proceedings with an interview with their president, who became the first sitting U.S. president to attend a Super Bowl. Naturally, he took every chance to politicise the occasion and fired off some angry tweets post-match.

The level of commercialisation was so high that I was surprised that the coin toss wasn’t brought to us by our friends over at State Farm.

Tom Brady’s co-commentary was average as usual, offering no useful insight on the game, perhaps he’s not an interesting enough person to be doing TV. His deal is for 10 years at $375 million, so both sides have an incentive to make it work, and Fox will no doubt squeeze Brady into every advertising opportunity they can find.

To win seven Super Bowls, you can’t be an interesting person, Brady spent his 20s in the NFL equivalent of the library studying. Meanwhile, all the average students [aka Tony Romo], were out partying. Who do you think would have more interesting anecdotes down the road?

Not library boy for sure.

What’s going on with Travis Kelce Hair?

Travis Kelce decided to dress like this to go to work. \

I guess this is what happens when you date the Taylor Swifts of the world.

I wonder if the writer of that infamous New York Times article explaining the ubiquitous fade haircut to a bemused world feels the need to now break down the return of the curtain haircut.

We haven’t seen this style since the glory days of David Beckham in the 1990s.

Speaking of Goldenballs….

What was the best advert during Super Bowl LIX?

With it being reported that a 30-second Super Bowl ad costs $8 million the competition to stand out was fierce. Every ad seemed to boast some sort of A-list celebrity, especially Matthew McConaughey who was on screen for longer than the Chiefs offense.

I saw a lot of things I didn’t expect like a disturbing CGI Seal, and a man who’s head was shaped like a cowboy hat.

The highlight was the David Beckham, Matt Damon crossover world created by Stella Artois.

It also continues to show that everywhere outside the UK, Stella Artois is a classy drink.

For the first time, I can see why some people say that the commercials are better than the game.

Overall thoughts

The game was a good match up on paper, but this was a beatdown and the action on the pitch drew much attention after the first half. Afterwards, Kendrick was comfortably trending higher on Twitter anything else.

The Super Bowl is more about the spectacle and outside entertainment that they’ve guaranteed a great time even if the on-field action is lacking. It was a great experience and I look forward to seeing what they have in offer for Super Bowl LX.