SUMMARY
- Patrick Mahomes came in clutch as the Kansas City Chiefs pulled off a late finish to defeat San Franciso 49ers in the Super Bowl LVIII.
- The late finish, however, did not sit well with fans as they believed the match was "scripted".
Super Bowl 2024 has just concluded and similar to many other sports in the world, it has also been receiving accusations of being rigged. Several soccer fans joined the same boat when Lionel Messi won the FIFA World Cup 2022 with Argentina. Many still double down on that opinion. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are facing a similar situation.
NFL fans are accusing the league of scripting the Super Bowl LVIII. The event received much fanfare as billionaire pop star Taylor Swift was in the crowd to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce. Along with Swift, Ice Spice also made an appearance. The half-time show consisted of Usher, will.i.am, and Ludacris among others.
The match, which could be divided into quarters of dominance by both teams, saw the Chiefs trump the San Francisco 49ers at the death. This did not sit right with many fans who called the match rigged.
One fan posted a video of people celebrating wildly and wrote, “NFL script writers after getting a Chiefs Super Bowl win and more Kelce and Taylor Swift content.”
NFL script writers after getting a Chiefs Super Bowl win and more Kelce and Taylor Swift content pic.twitter.com/L0BGVVFa5g
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 12, 2024
Another fan posted a video of a man counting money and wrote, “nfl script writers collecting the bag after giving chiefs yet another win.”
nfl script writers collecting the bag after giving chiefs yet another win #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/z9BjZ4LRLh
— ™️ (@RashyMuse) February 12, 2024
One of the other fans went on an all-out rant about the result and compared the sport to WWE. The wrote, “The NFL is so disgustingly rigged & americans just watch this shit and spend so much money on it. It’s WWE, it’s sports entertainment. It has a script. The Chiefs was always going to win.”
The match, however, was extremely exciting. Mahomes and the Chiefs pulled off a win at the death as the match went into overtime.
Kansas City Chiefs pulled off a win at the death against San Francisco 49ers
After a scoreless first quarter, a 55-yard field goal by 49ers kicker Jake Moody made the score 3–0 with over 11 minutes left in the second quarter. The 49ers made it 10-0 with a twenty-one-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Jauan Jennings to running back Christian McCaffrey. A field goal by Harrison Butker saw the first half end with a scoreline of 10-3 in favor of the 49ers.
After the half-time performance, the Chiefs came out all guns blazing and took the third quarter 10-0. The 49ers came back in the final quarter and almost pulled off a win before Mahomes led his team to a game-tying drive. Regulation time ended with a scoreline of 19-19.
49ers led in the overtime by 3-0 before Mahomes pulled off another Mahomes and led the Chiefs to victory. OT ended with a 6-3 scoreline as the Chiefs QB won another Super Bowl MVP. This is his third MVP award in three Super Bowl wins. Chiefs have now won seven Super Bowls overall and Super Bowl LVIII was their third in five years.
Why did the fans start calling the Super Bowl 2024 a scripted affair?
The topsy-turvy nature of the game may have played a role in this. Comparing it to the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Argentina’s initial dominance followed by France’s comeback and an eventual win for the South Americans on penalties meant that the world witnessed one of the best soccer games ever. Super Bowl LVIII faired similarly. The 49ers dominating the proceedings followed by the Chiefs’ comeback and overall win in OT was quite a spectacle.
Fans flooded social media with accusations of a script. Many had the idea that the NFL was looking to garner more content with Swift and Kelce with a win. Others claimed that Mahomes was allowed in the “script” to bolster his legacy. The calls for this match being scripted should soon die down but the Chiefs and Mahomes’ legacy will live on forever.
