GLENDALE, Ariz. — Meltdown. 

There is no other word or way to describe what happened to the supposedly mighty Eagles in the second half of a back-and-forth, wild-and-crazy Super Bowl 2023. 

The Eagles led 24-14 at halftime and made Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs look mortal, considering one of the two touchdowns by the Chiefs came on a fumble return by linebacker Nick Bolton. Mahomes seemed outmanned and the Eagles seemed poised to keep hammering away. 

Instead, it was the Eagles who got hammered. They allowed 24 points after halftime, lost the lead and eventually lost the game 38-35 in devastating fashion, leaving State Farm Stadium stunned and incredibly disappointed. 

Tied at 35, the Chiefs got the ball with 5:15 remaining and the Eagles needed a stop to get the ball back. They never did. They failed to contain rookie running back Isiah Pacheco on the ground and could not stop Mahomes on a 26-yard scramble. On a key third-down play, one of their new players, former Giants cornerback James Bradberry, was hit with a penalty that turned out to be a crushing blow. 

On third-and-8 from the Kansas City 16-yard line, it looked as if the Eagles had forced a field goal when Mahomes threw over the reach of JuJu Smith-Schuster. Bradberry, though, was called for holding Smith-Schuster, a penalty that gave the Chiefs a first down. They were able to run the clock down before Harrison Butker’s game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining. 

Were the Eagles mesmerized by peeking out of their locker room to get a glimpse of Rihanna elevating into the air during the halftime show? Did they think the Chiefs and Mahomes were going to lay down and die, trailing 24-14, as the Eagles dominated the first half on the field but their 10-point lead did not reflect that dominance? 

There was no defense presence from the Eagles as the Chiefs got the ball to start the third quarter. The Chiefs ran it three straight plays and picked up 23 yards and this was not supposed to happen to the rugged Philly defensive front. There was nothing fancy about the way the Chiefs marched down the field with a methodical 10-play, 75-yard drive to pull within 24-21. 

What was becoming more evident as the game wore is that the feared Eagles pass rush that produced 70 sacks in the regular season was not inflicting its will on Mahomes. There were 27 passes thrown by Mahomes and he was not sacked once. Smith-Schuster was invisible in the first half and finished with seven catches for 53 yards. Darius Slay, a top cornerback, was badly beaten on a motion play by Kadarius Toney — yes, former Giants first-round pick Kadarius Toney — on an uncontested 5-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. 

It was a brutal way for the Eagles’ defense to go down, and out.