For those members of the Carl Cheffers non-fan club, and there are a lot of them, the Super Bowl’s referee’s holding call on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry with 1:54 left in the game was yet another example this season of the stripes ruining what was a compelling contest.
And when you look at the call and the situation, it’s hard to justify. The Chiefs had third-and-8 from the Philadelphia 15-yard line, and Patrick Mahomes threw incomplete to JuJu Smith-Schuster on a little whip route. By rights, the Chiefs would have kicked the go-ahead field goal there, and the Eagles would have had time to respond.
Instead, we got this.
brutal penalty call pic.twitter.com/dHsEjOYVGb
— alex (@highIightheaven) February 13, 2023
Was it holding by the letter of the law? Perhaps. In any event, the penalty gave Kansas City first-and-10 from the Philadelphia 11-yard line, and the Chiefs ran the clock down to 11 seconds. At which point Harrison Butker made the 27-yard field goal that won the game for the Chiefs, 38-35.
To his credit, Bradberry was a stand-up guy after the game, admitting that he did hold Smith-Schuster on the play.
"I pulled on his jersey. They called it. I was hoping they would let it ride."
James Bradberry on the pivotal holding call pic.twitter.com/5P8zvFqswd
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 13, 2023
We’ll be arguing about that call for a very long time. It was indeed correct by the rules, but what a brutal way to spin the game in one direction.
