The Athletic has live coverage of Chiefs vs Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, and Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance.
The Philadelphia Eagles stormed out to a 24-0 first-half lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, a dominant opening highlighted by rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean’s pick-six on his 22nd birthday.
DeJean’s interception was the first of his career, and marked the first playoff pick-six thrown by Patrick Mahomes in his eight-year career. Mahomes has only thrown five pick-sixes since 2017 and Sunday’s marked his first since Christmas Day 2023.
DeJean’s interception was the first interception returned for a touchdown in a Super Bowl since 2017, when Atlanta Falcons defensive back Robert Alford took a Tom Brady pass 82 yards to the house to jump ahead of the New England Patriots 20-0.
COOPER DEJEAN PICK TO THE HOUSE!
📺: #SBLIX on FOX
📱: Tubi + NFL app pic.twitter.com/y4Q4bGTHE2— NFL (@NFL) February 10, 2025
According to the broadcast, DeJean is the second player to score a championship game touchdown on his birthday, joining Eagles legend Steve Van Buren in 1947.
Three drives after DeJean’s score, Mahomes threw his second interception of the half, this time to linebacker Zach Baun over the middle of the field. That set the Eagles up for an easy touchdown two plays later as Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown for a 12-yard score.
Brown’s touchdown gave the Eagles the second-largest halftime lead in Super Bowl history.
Of the Chiefs’ seven drives to start, five have ended in punts. Mahomes tallied just 33 yards on 6-of-14 passing and was sacked three times. Between Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City’s ground attack managed only 3 yards on three carries.
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(Photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
