One play from the Super Bowl will haunt the Eagles all offseason and it's not the holding call
The holding call on Philadelphia Eagles defensive back James Bradberry that gave the Kansas City Chiefs a first down late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII is the play that most Philly fans will remember from the devastating loss against KC. Bradberry's penalty allowed Kansas City to essentially run out the clock before […]
The holding call on Philadelphia Eagles defensive back James Bradberry that gave the Kansas City Chiefs a first down late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII is the play that most Philly fans will remember from the devastating loss against KC.
Bradberry's penalty allowed Kansas City to essentially run out the clock before kicking a game-winning field goal. The Eagles got the ball back with just a few seconds left on the clock and a desperation pass as the clock expired fell incomplete, giving the Chiefs the win.
While that play obviously destroyed any chance Philly had to win the game, it's not the play that necessarily lost them the game.
That actually came earlier in the fourth quarter.
With the Chiefs up by one point early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles went three-and-out and lost all the momentum in the game.
Philadelphia was forced to punt after Jalen Hurts' pass on third down fell incomplete.
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky broke down the play on Tuesday and he suggested that it will haunt the Eagles all offseason.
Here's the play and his breakdown.
Orlovsky pointed out two things that cost the Eagles on that play.
For starters, the protection was messed up on the left side of the offensive line, which allowed a defender to come free and get pressure on Hurts and force him from the pocket. Because Hurts had to escape pressure, he wasn't able to hit a wide-open AJ Brown over the middle for an easy first down. If the pressure is picked up and Hurts hits Brown for the first down, maybe Philly goes down the field and scores and regains the momentum.
Instead, they were forced to punt and the Chiefs quickly scored after a 65-yard punt return.
The other part of that play that bothered Orlovsky was the fact that the Eagles were passing the ball instead of running the ball as they had done successfully in third-and-short and fourth-and-short situations earlier in the game. The Chiefs weren't having much success stopping Philly's short-yardage game so it seemed silly to move away from that.
That one play likely altered the course of the game. It's cliché, but winning in the NFL really is all about the little details.
Featured image via Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
