FORKS TWP., Pa – Eagles fans across the Lehigh Valley were united in agony after the team’s 38-35 Super Bowl defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night.
- The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 Sunday
- Eagles fans hoped for a repeat of the team’s 2018 Super Bowl win
- Early hope in the first half of the game gave way to disappointment in the fourth quarter
At Big Woody’s sports bar in Forks Township, as in places like it across the nation, a few dozen people, many sporting dark-green Eagles jerseys, huddled in front of flat screen televisions to follow their team.
Going into the second half, the Eagles held a 10-point lead – enough to build anticipation for the victory on the horizon, but not quite enough to ease observers’ nerves.
I feel disappointed, but I’m very proud of my Philadelphia Eagles... it's like the stock market – the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, and we got it in this game. I'm just proud of my guys for battling it out.Eagles fan Shemar Fife of Germantown
With four minutes to go in the game, the score tied at 35, things looked very different.
Ecstatic anticipation became horror-thriller tension, sinking into despondent dismay as Kansas City ran out the clock, ultimately leaving the Eagles 11 seconds to answer their eleventh-hour field goal.
The game ended not with a bang at Big Woody’s, but with a whimper. When the Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ final hail-Mary pass fell to earth, most of the bar’s patrons stood almost wordlessly, gathered their things, and made for the exit, decidedly more blue than dark green.
“I feel disappointed, but I’m very proud of my Philadelphia Eagles,” said Shemar Fife, from Germantown. “It's like the stock market – the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, and we got it in this game. I'm just proud of my guys for battling it out.”
A similar scene unfolded at The Nest in Bethlehem.
With a few minutes left on the clock, tense Eagles fans were still holding out hope. A couple of Giants supporters who had bet on the Chiefs stayed loud, but otherwise the only sound in the room was the blare of the broadcast.
Many Eagles fans put their heads in their hands or left as the Chiefs scored their final field goal. The rest cleared out within minutes of the final declaration of a Chiefs win.
“I feel like I've been stabbed in the heart,” said Eagles fan James Muldowney. “I just – I'm really disappointed. I hope Jonathan Gannon leaves, honestly – our defensive coordinator – because it's inexcusable. It's inexcusable to give up.”
Both teams finished the regular season with 14-3 records, and still-fresh memories of recent Super Bowl victories.
Eagles fans hoped for a repeat of the team’s last Super Bowl appearance, in 2018 against the New England Patriots. After a win in 2020, the Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl for a loss in 2021.
Kat Dickey contributed to this report.
