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(AP) — There was no on-field celebration for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce after this Super Bowl.
Only consolation far away from the prying TV cameras.
The pop superstar turned up at the big game for the second consecutive year as her boyfriend and the Kansas City Chiefs tried to make history by winning a third consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Instead, Swift found herself booed by a pro-Eagles crowd and then had to endure their countless cheers as Philadelphia rolled to a 40-22 victory at the Superdome.
Last year, Swift and Kelce locked lips on the field at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas as red and gold confetti fell like rain after the Chiefs won their second straight Super Bowl — the duo’s first since becoming a sports-and-music power couple.
That was a celebratory affair for Swift all night: She won a beer-chugging contest to raucous cheers from the pro-Chiefs crowd, and she spent the game partying with celebrity friends including Blake Lively and Lana Del Rey.
Yet much has changed over the past 12 months. Many sports fans have turned against Swift, whom they believe gets far too much television time during NFL games. And even more, fans have turned against the Chiefs, who have replaced the Patriots with Tom Brady as the juggernaut that NFL fans love to hate.
So it wasn’t surprising that Swift was booed when shown on the videoboards alongside rapper Ice Spice during a break in the first quarter Sunday night. She gave a bit of a side-eye look and wrinkled her nose when she realized the boos were for her.
By the second half, and with the Eagles in control, the cameras were staying away from her entirely, and after the game, President Donald Trump took a dig at Swift, who endorsed Kamala Harris in last year’s election.
“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” Trump posted on social media. “She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!”
Swift and Kelce became a couple early last season when the four-time All-Pro tight end invited the songstress to watch him play in a game against the Bears. Kelce had famously tried and failed to deliver a friendship bracelet to Swift when she had played at Arrowhead Stadium, but she took him up on the offer to attend a game and their relationship blossomed.
Perhaps being shut out at the Grammy Awards last week was a harbinger of a long, difficult night. In 2024, she won album of the year for her 14th career Grammy a week before joining Kelce for their on-field Super Bowl celebration.
That week was arguably the peak of Taylor and Travis, not that their stardom has dimmed since. In 2024, after the Grammys, she was in the midst of her Eras Tour and had played a concert in Tokyo before making a mad dash to Las Vegas for the game.
This year she eased into the Big Easy, arriving in time to join Kelce on a double date with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, on Friday night. The couples dined at Lilette, a French restaurant near the Garden District.
On the eve of the big game, Swift was spotted with musicians Danielle and Alana Haim at Gianna Restaurant.
The big question swirling early Sunday was what might happen if Kelce won a third straight Super Bowl ring and fourth overall. Would he pick such a festive moment to propose? BetMGM gave 8/1 odds for those willing to wager on it.
That possibility was snuffed out well before the game was over.
The Chiefs fell to 19-4 with Swift in the crowd, and Sunday was the first time she saw them lose in the playoffs.
“We haven’t played that bad all year. You don’t lose like that without everything going bad,” Kelce said.
Now, the question is whether the 35-year-old Kelce — who made himself scarce in the postgame locker room — will be back for another Super Bowl run. He has been noncommittal about playing next year, and some within the Chiefs organization are bracing for a potential retirement after a record-setting career that will almost certainly land him in the Hall of Fame.
Kelce has been laying the groundwork for his post-playing career for years. He has a lucrative podcast with his brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, and has hosted game shows and even tried his hand at acting this past offseason.
“I’ll let Travis make that decision on his own,” said Mahomes, his closest buddy on the team. “He knows he still has a lot of football left in him. I mean, you can see it. He always makes plays in the biggest moment, but it’s if he wants to put in that grind, because it takes it to go out there and play 20 games, whatever it is, and get to the Super Bowl.
“He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy and first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Mahomes added, “but I know he still has a love for the game, and he’ll get to spend some time with his family and make that decision on his own.”
There was a three-play sequence in the second quarter of the Super Bowl on Sunday night that not only summarized the way things went for Patrick Mahomes but also the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Philadelphia had taken a 10-0 lead and the two-time defending champs were on the ropes when Mahomes was sacked by the Eagles’ Josh Sweat. On the next play, Sweat bottled him up again. And on the ensuing play, the two-time NFL MVP was under such duress that Mahomes threw an interception that Cooper DeJean returned 38 yards for a score.
Six sacks. Three turnovers. And not an ounce of Mahome magic.
By the time he was done dragging himself off the Superdome turf, and the Eagles were able to run the last seconds off the clock, Mahomes and the Chiefs were sent home with a humbling — humiliating, even — 40-22 Super Bowl defeat.
“They played better than us from start to finish,” Mahomes said. “We didn’t start how we wanted to. The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that. Those turnovers swing the moment of the game and they capitalized on them. They scored on one and got a touchdown immediately after another. That’s the 14 points I gave them. It’s hard to come back from that in the Super Bowl.
“I didn’t play to my standard,” Mahomes said, “and I have to be better next time.”
The six sacks were the most Mahomes had endured since LSU took him to the ground that many times in the 2015 Texas Bowl when he was still at Texas Tech. The pick-6 was his first in the playoffs and ended a streak of 297 consecutive passes without an interception. Another pick and a lost fumble represented the second-most turnovers in a game in his NFL career.
It all added up to one of Mahomes’ most disappointing performances, too.
“He’s a human being, man. I guess the world got to see that,” Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins said.
The Chiefs were trying to make history as the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls, and Mahomes and five of his closest teammates — including Travis Kelce and Chris Jones — were aiming for a fourth ring in six seasons.
But rather than playing with poise and precision as they did in two triumphs over San Francisco or their win over Philadelphia two years ago in Glendale, Arizona, the Chiefs looked like they did against Tampa Bay on Feb. 7, 2021.
That was the night the Buccaneers blitzed Mahomes into oblivion in a 31-9 Super Bowl loss.
“These will be the two losses that motivate me the rest of my career,” Mahomes said.
The Eagles didn’t even need to blitz him to create pressure Sunday night.
The Chiefs managed just one first down over the first 30 minutes, and it came on their first offensive play, an 11-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster after they had forced the Eagles to punt. The rest of the half? They gained just 14 more yards.
“Their defensive line did a nice job,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, in perhaps the understatement of the night.
The result was a 24-0 deficit that seemed insurmountable as Kendrick Lamar began his halftime show. In fact, things were going so bad for Kansas City that even Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, was getting booed by the pro-Eagles crowd.
Mahomes wasn’t entirely to blame. The Chiefs’ offensive line was dominated by the Philadelphia defensive front, which not only sacked him three times in the first half but put so much pressure on him that it played a big part in both of the interceptions; the second one by Zack Baun late in the half led to another Eagles touchdown.
In truth, the Chiefs struggled all season to protect Mahomes’ blind side. They tried rookie Kingsley Suamataia at left tackle before coach Andy Reid benched him for second-year pro-Wanya Morris, who struggled so much himself that he was inactive for the Super Bowl. They ultimately moved All-Pro guard Joe Thuney outside and put Mike Caliendo in his place.
That lineup seemed to work late in the regular season when the Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed with a victory over Pittsburgh on Christmas Day. It also gave Mahomes the time he needed to pick apart Houston and Buffalo in the playoffs.
It couldn’t stop Sweat, Jalen Carter and the rest of the Eagles defensive front in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
“It’s going to hurt for a while,” Mahomes admitted, “but how can you respond to it?”
Cooper DeJean took an interception to the house, Zack Baun made a pick in his old professional home, and the Eagles so thoroughly thrashed Patrick Mahomes that by the time Kendrick Lamar had “Game Over” brightened in the Superdome stands to end his halftime set, it was just as clear that, so too, was the Super Bowl.
From Broad Street to Bourbon Street, the Eagles’ defense this season never failed 66-year-old defensive mastermind Vic Fangio.
And the defense was never as great as it was in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles played at their ball-hawking, shut-down, sack-happy best against an overwhelmed Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-22 romp Sunday to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl.
DeJean, Baun, Josh Sweat and Milton Williams anchored a championship defense that smothered a dynasty and sacked Mahomes a whopping six times, the most by any defense ever against the two-time NFL MVP.
“Credit to the Eagles, man. They played better than us from start to finish,” Mahomes said.
The Chiefs had to feel as if they were stuck in a fever dream in the first half during which they totaled — totaled! — 23 yards and had just one first down. Mahomes was only 6 of 14 for 33 yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions — one of them a pick-6 by DeJean — and another by Baun that led to an Eagles touchdown on the next drive.
“When you’re winning with the four-man rush and you can just cycle guys through and they’re still winning, you don’t have to blitz,” Baun said. “Great game plan, great communication. We were all on the same page all game.”
Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP, was sacked three times and shut out in the first half for just the third time in his NFL career as the Eagles cruised to a 24-0 lead and Lamar settled in for his halftime performance.
“They didn’t show any, you know, different looks. They didn’t show anything unscented,” Chiefs center Creed Humphrey said. “It just came down to, you know, them coming out playing harder.”
It didn’t matter to the Eagles that 2,005-yard rusher Saquon Barkley only ran for 31 yards in the first half — not when DeJean got 38 on his own on the interception return for a 17-0 lead. Nor did it matter the Eagles didn’t blitz once in the entire game.
“I did believe we could have a good pass rush game,” Fangio said.
Sweat, a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, had eight sacks in the regular season and the linebacker surely parlayed 2 1/2 more sacks in the Super Bowl into a massive payday as he heads into free agency. Williams, another impending free agent, added two sacks. Baun is set for free agency again at the end of his $3.5 million deal.
The credit for the defense largely fell to Fangio, who had an unsightly 0-8 record against Mahomes as head coach in Denver and play-caller in Miami, though he never had a defense as talented as this one. Fangio incorporated eight new starters into a defense that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in 2023 and turned it into a menace against Mahomes.
“You go in with a plan, but he’s so good you know you’re going to have to adjust. We just adjusted with coverages,” Fangio said. “We didn’t pressure (blitz) much. He’s so good against pressure that I was hoping we could play the game without having to pressure much, and that happened.”
He tutored two rookie starters in the secondary in Quinyon Mitchell and the 22-year-old DeJean, who played a big part in the turnaround. Fangio saw enough in Baun to turn the bargain free agent from a special teams player with limited time on defense as an outside rusher in New Orleans into an All-Pro inside linebacker and finalist for AP Defensive Player of the Year.
“I mean, the beauty of it is like that Vic just gives us a call, we don’t question it,” Sweat said. “He puts us in a position to make plays. I don’t know how he does it.”
The 28-year-old Baun’s signing was barely a blip on the offseason transactions wire compared to more ballyhooed deals with Barkley — a Super Bowl champion for the first time — and linebacker Bryce Huff — a $51 million bust, who was inactive Sunday.
The Eagles even survived the last 11 weeks without veteran defensive end Brandon Graham, who returned from a torn triceps to play in the Super Bowl. Graham said “I ain’t there yet” when it comes to making a final decision on his retirement.
Pick a defensive player: Sweat, DeJean, Williams, heck the whole unit could have claimed Super Bowl MVP honors.
They’ll be fine hoisting the Lombardi Trophy on a Philly parade this week down Broad Street.
Saquon Barkley set an NFL single-season rushing record in the Super Bowl, held his young daughter as a torrent of confetti fluttered around them, and flashed a smile as he held a Philadelphia newspaper with “CHAMPS!” stamped above his photo.
The Eagles running back then grasped what he really wanted to kiss and hold on this night in the Superdome — what he could only hope was ahead following his tumultuous end in New York that diverted his career down the turnpike to Philadelphia.
The 2,000-yard rusher earned his turn with the Lombardi Trophy.
“She looked prettier in person, I’ll tell you that,” Barkley said. “Something that you dream of. I’m just happy to hold it, be able to give it a kiss.”
Barkley finished with a modest 57 yards rushing in the Eagles’ 40-22 win over Kansas City in the Super Bowl — a paltry number for an elite back who posted seven touchdown runs of 60-plus yards this season — but the total was enough to set the NFL single-season rushing record, postseason included, topping the mark of 2,476 yards set by Terrell Davis.
He ended perhaps the greatest debut season of any free agent in Philadelphia sports history on perhaps the greatest championship team the city has ever seen with 2,504 total yards rushing and 18 rushing touchdowns.
“Hell of a year, right? I couldn’t do it without the big boys up front, everyone on this team. I just appreciate them – the whole Eagles organization,” Barkley said. “Of me being a newcomer, welcoming me in with open arms and helping build confidence back in me too. That was definitely helpful.
“It was a hell of a year, but all of the numbers and stats or records are cool, but the best thing is to be able to hold that Lombardi Trophy.”
Barkley, the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, needed only 30 yards to top Davis’ total set in 1998 when he helped the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl. Also that season, Davis was the last running back to win Super Bowl MVP.
Barkley ran the ball on the first offensive play of the Super Bowl and finally got the mark after a slow first half on a 2-yard run on the last play of the half. Barkley had 12 carries for 31 yards for a measly 2.6 yards per carry. He averaged 5.8 yards in the regular season.
The Eagles were fine without Barkley’s usually spectacular production. Thanks to two interceptions by the defense and two total touchdowns from Jalen Hurts, the Eagles led the Chiefs 24-0 at halftime.
Barkley had reason to feel festive Sunday, not only setting the record and playing in his first Super Bowl in his first season with the Eagles, he also turned 28.
His 2,005 yards rushing in the regular season made Barkley the ninth running back in NFL history to top 2,000 yards and he entered the Super Bowl with 2,447 total rushing yards.
Barkley’s seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards (that includes the postseason) were a record and he joined Davis as one of only two players in NFL history with at least 400 yards rushing and five touchdowns in a single postseason.
Long reluctant to spend major money on running backs, the Eagles have reaped the rewards and a rewriting of the franchise record book on their $26 million guaranteed leap of faith on Barkley. He has flashed the kind of did-you-see-that plays that fans say are ripped straight from a video game; including a mind-bending backward hurdle that was so foreign to the sport that Madden had to release an update to make it possible in its game.
There was nothing virtual about this Lombardi Trophy.
“It’s better in person than it is in Madden, I’ll tell you that playing as a kid,” Barkley said. “It’s everything you dream of. I’m just happy to be able to hold it, give it a kiss and be world champs.”
All this after his departure from free agency was chronicled by the documentary series “Hard Knocks.”
In the crucial scene, Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Barkley that New York would not make him an offer or stick the franchise tag on him. Rather, the Giants let Barkley test the free-agent market, a move that sent him to an NFC East rival.
“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia, I’ll tell you that,” team owner John Mara said to Schoen in the series. “As I’ve told you, just being around enough players, he’s the most popular player we have, by far.”
Mara might have a tough night getting winks after this Super Bowl.
Stuck at just two career playoff games in six seasons with the Giants, Barkley had arguably the greatest first season of any player in Eagles history. His 2,005 yards rushing (an Eagles record, eighth-most in NFL history) left him only 101 shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s season record of 2,105.
The Eagles rested Barkley in the regular-season finale, denying him the shot to pass Dickerson.
There’s no sitting out in the Super Bowl — and now, there’s no running back who rushed for more yards in a wire-to-wire season.
Palestine and Sudan flag at the Apple Music Kendrick Lamar halftime show at the Superbowl #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/kdyGSuwdz4
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) February 10, 2025