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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Nicholas Schwartz

NFL fans react to the brutal holding call that decided Super Bowl LVII

Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts delivered a Super Bowl thriller for the ages, but a controversial holding call in the final minutes robbed fans of a do-or-die final drive and led to an anticlimactic chip shot field goal for the Chiefs to win a second championship in the last four seasons.

Facing a 3rd-and-8 at the Eagles’ 15-yard line, Patrick Mahomes lofted a pass that went too deep for JuJu Smith-Schuster to catch – but a flag was thrown on James Bradberry for defensive holding. The penalty gave the Chiefs a first down, and with the Eagles down to one timeout, allowed Kansas City to kill the clock.

Bradberry, after the game, did admit that he tugged on Smith-Schuster’s jersey.

Harrison Butker made a game-winning 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, and Jalen Hurts’ one shot at a miracle pass fell incomplete.

Replays showed that Bradberry did make contact with Smith-Schuster – but in a game where the officials had largely let the players play, and with a Super Bowl on the line, fans couldn’t believe the call.

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