This year’s NFL season was anything but normal. A last-second lateral play by the Patriots turned into a game-winning fumble recovery by Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones as he threw quarterback Mac Jones to the ground and ran for a score. In one of the scariest moments in NFL history, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and needed to be resuscitated on the field, leading to the game’s cancellation. A week later, the Bills returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Fans went into the playoffs expecting chaos or catastrophe.

The Super Bowl consisted of the two expected contenders, the Chiefs and Eagles, who had dominated the regular season and both claimed the top seed in their respective conferences. The Chiefs’ path to the Super Bowl can be summarized in one word: injuries. In their divisional round matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, defensive tackle Arden Key landed on the ankle of Kansas City’s star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, causing Mahomes to yell in pain and limp towards the sideline. After having his ankle taped up, he re-entered the game to clinch a victory against the rallying Jacksonville squad. The media was buzzing about Mahomes’ ankle for all of the next week leading up to the AFC Championship against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs put doubters and speculations to rest, playing a very close but well-executed game to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.

On the opposite side of the league, the Philadelphia Eagles team looked the most dominant in the entire league for the whole season. In a make-or-break year, young quarterback Jalen Hurts cemented himself as a franchise player with 35 total touchdowns in 15 regular season games. The Eagles claimed the number one seed despite losing every game in which they did not have Hurts, and their defense racked up 70 sacks in the regular season—the third most in NFL history. In the divisional round game against their division rival the New York Giants, Hurts showed that an injury was not holding him back whatsoever in a 38-7 blowout. The NFC championship game was billed to be a battle of titans, with the 49ers’ star-studded offense and #1 scoring defense going up against the most dominant all-around team in the league. Unfortunately, however, every quarterback on the Niners roster ended up injured, which contributed to a game that never really was close. The Eagles were Super Bowl-bound, and their quarterback was 16-1. This framed the question: Could anyone (other than Taylor Heinicke) stop the healthy Eagles from winning their second Lombardi in five seasons?

Five minutes into the game, the answer clearly seemed to be no. After a balanced drive with multiple big passes to DeVonte Smith, Jalen Hurts pounded the ball into the endzone with a rugby-style quarterback sneak. The Chiefs, however, wasted no time and struck back just three minutes later with a pass lofted down the right sideline to the NFL’s best tight end, Travis Kelce. After a punt and a Harrison Butker field goal attempt that doinked off the left upright, the fireworks show commenced. In the most spectacular play of the game, Jalen Hurts launched the ball 45 yards down the left side of the field, and the Eagles newly acquired star wide receiver, A.J. Brown, reached out and grabbed it for a score. After another failed Chiefs possession, the Eagles were driving when suddenly, Hurts haphazardly dropped the football and kicked it… straight to Nick Bolton, a Kansas City linebacker. Bolton picked up the ball and ran it back 36 yards for a touchdown, and the game was now tied at 14. The Eagles offense recovered quickly, though, as they closed out the half with a touchdown drive and a field goal to enter the break up 24-14.

As the teams trotted off the field, all eyes turned to the center stage where Rihanna was about to perform. Decked out in a completely red outfit, Rihanna sang all of her greatest hits: 13 minutes, 12 songs. At some points, she and backup dancers dressed like marshmallow oompa-loompas were lifted high into the air on platforms, providing an extra element to the vocals. The focal point of the performance, however, was Rihanna’s body. Her manager later confirmed that she was pregnant with her second child, but that did not stop her from performing the choreography and finishing the show off by belting her song, “Diamonds,” dozens of feet in the air.

The second half started with a bang. Running back Isaiah Pacheco rumbled into the end zone for the Chiefs, cutting the deficit to three. After that, the Eagles strung together the longest drive of the game, nearly eight minutes, which concluded with a Jake Elliot field goal to make the score 27-21. The Eagles quickly learned that no lead is safe when you are playing against Mahomes. The Chiefs rushed down the field to score on a well-designed play by Andy Reid that left Kadarius Toney wide open in the left flat. After Kansas City stopped the Eagles offense in their tracks, momentum completely swung in the Chiefs’ favor when Toney came up big by returning a punt all the way to the Eagles 5-yard line, from where the Mahomes-led offense scored on the same passing play on the other side. Now down by eight, the Eagles needed to score and convert a two-point conversion to hopefully force overtime, and while they did so on two Jalen Hurts runs, their defense, so dominant all year, could not stop Mahomes, and gave up a game-winning field goal with only eight seconds remaining.

As the clock ran out, Kansas City players rushed the field in celebration as they had secured the greatest victory possible in a season where they were doubted more than ever before. Since the loss of their best pass catcher Tyreek Hill, experts predicted before the season that the team wouldn’t even make the playoffs, but this team proved all of the doubters wrong. Patrick Mahomes was given his second Super Bowl MVP, making him the third player in NFL history to win two NFL league MVP honors and two Super Bowl MVPs in a career, joining Joe Montana and Tom Brady. While the Chiefs celebrate and bask in championship glory, the Eagles have a bright future ahead of them with a young offensive core and dominant defense. The final score was Chiefs 38, Eagles 35—the third-highest scoring Super Bowl in history, and an offensive shootout that every fan could enjoy.