Super Bowl First Half: Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts The Chiefs With Big Plays, Helps Eagles Control The Ball

It was a first-half all about mistakes. Wide-open receivers. A fumble returned for a touchdown. A reliable kicker hitting the uprights. And in perhaps the worst moment of all, Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes taking off on an ill-advised run on a bum ankle, reinjuring himself.

That all added up to a Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 lead in the first half, a game that saw the Eagles more than double the time of possession over the Chiefs, keeping the dangerous Mahomes on the sideline.

The Eagles did that while rolling up 270 yards of offense. Quarterback Jalen Hurts of the Eagle alone had 63 yards rushing and 183 passing, the equivalent of a full great game.

Philadelphia struck quickly on its opening drive, moving like a hot knife through butter on the Chiefs, Hurts diving for the first of his two touchdowns in the half after leading a drive of 11 plays in 75 yards. Neither team had trailed for a single minute in the playoffs before that.

Mahones led the Chiefs right back, hitting tight end Travis Kelce for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Later in the half, kicker Harrison Butker hit the upright on a 43-yard field goal attempt.

But Hurts continued to punish the Chiefs. He hit A.J. Brown for a 45-yard touchdown pass, sitting in the pocket with great protection.

He followed that up with his lone mistake, fumbling the ball and then kicking it. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton eagerly scooped it up and returned it 36 yards for the TD and a 14-14 tie.

From there, it was all Eagles and Hurts. On 4th and 5, a quarterback draw by Hurts went for 28 yards and a first down. He also lured KC into a neutral zone infraction on 4th and 2, leading to a first and goal. Hurts ran it in from there from four yards out for his second TD of the half.

The Chiefs saw Mahomes flushed out of the pocket as the half neared its end, and they paid for that. He turned over his already-injured ankle, and hobbled off the field. The big story of the second half will be whether he can return and be anywhere near effective. The 29-minute halftime will not help in that.