2024 NFL Season Part 4: Super Bowl LIX Quiz

Answer: First play after the kick return, 60 yard rushing touchdown to Barkley

No one expected the Commanders to be playing in the NFC championship game but rookie QB Jayden Daniels, hoping to be the first rookie QB to play in the Super Bowl, had steered his team to the last NFC match of the season. On their opening drive, they were both cautious and adventurous, depending on the play. They successfully steered past two fourth downs but oddly went for a 35-yard field goal after over seven minutes in possession.

When the Eagles received the ball from the kick-off, Shipley made 35 yards to make it to the 40-yard line. From there, after the snap, Hurts handed the ball to running back Saquon Barkley who ran 60 yards to score a touchdown. The Eagles needed only possession for 18 seconds to score. The extra point was good. The Commanders fumbled after five plays on their next drive, handing the ball to the Eagles. Seven plays later Barkley had his second touchdown. Eagles 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Answer: Eagles 3, Commanders 0

Washington held on from 14-3 down at the end of the first quarter to be 34-23 behind at the end of the third quarter. However, they were rattled, and their three possessions of the last quarter ended with: Turnover on downs, interception, and turnover on downs. By comparison, the Eagles' three possessions yielded three converted touchdowns. Philadelphia 55, Washington 23.

The Commanders' terrific season was over and the Eagles went on to the Super Bowl.

Answer: Chiefs won by a field goal 32-29

This was the Chiefs' seventh in a row AFC Championship Game appearance. This was the seventh overall AFC Championship Game for the Bills. They had not won the AFC Conference since their four consecutive AFC Championship Game wins from 1991 to 1994. Their 1993 game was the last time the Bills defeated the Chiefs in a playoff game.

The Bills and Chiefs had built up a rivalry in the preceding four years with both the Bills and Chief regular playoff contenders, with the Chiefs edging out the Bills in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 season playoffs, each time denying the Bills a chance to go to the Super Bowl. In the regular 2024 season, the Bills were one of only two teams to beat the Chiefs (30-21).

The first quarter was a torrid affair. The Chiefs scored on their opening drive, while the Bills could only manage a field goal on their first drive. In the second quarter, the game opened up a bit with two TDs apiece, with the Bills missing a two-point attempt. Chiefs 21-16 at the big break. The third quarter saw the Bills as the only scorers - two field goals to give them the lead 22-21. In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs scored a TD plus a two-point conversion, giving them a one-score lead of 29-22, but the Bills matched the TD and took the safer point after touchdown to draw level with 6:15 left on the clock. The Chiefs' next drive fizzled out on Buffalo's 17-yard line but a field goal put them ahead 32-29 with 3.33 left. The Bills could not capitalise and did not score on their next drive. On the turnover on downs, with 2 minutes to go, Kansas City hung onto the ball and ran down the clock. Chiefs through to the Super Bowl with a 32-29 point win.

Answer: Josh Allen

In a very close contest for the Associated Press MVP, Josh Allen narrowly defeated 2023 and two-time winner, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, with 383 points (27 first-place votes) compared to Jackson's 362 points (23 first-place votes). The win was considered mildly controversial as Jackson was named first-team Quarterback in the previously announced All-Pro team (but Allen was named as Quarterback in the second All-Pro team). Allen became the only third player ever to win MVP after not making first-team All-Pro. (While some of the voters vote in both awards, the All-Pro voting bloc includes representatives from the Associated Press (AP), Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), and "The Sporting News" (TSN).

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley earned third place in voting (120 points), Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow earned 82 votes and Lions QB Jared Goff 47.

Allen reached 41 touchdowns - 28 passing, 12 rushing, and one receiving for the 2024 regular season. He threw a career-low six interceptions and was sacked only 14 times.

Answer: Both number one seeds appeared in Super Bowl LIX

The Chiefs were the number one seed for the AFC, winning 15-2 for the season. Detroit was the number one seed for the NFC but was beaten by the Commanders in the divisional round. The Eagles were seeded number two and defeated the Packers

The Chiefs wanted to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. They had been to the Super Bowl seven times overall and five of the last six years, winning four times. This was Philadelphia's fifth trip to the Super Bowl and the second in three years. They won Super Bowl LII defeating the New England Patriots, 41-33 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2017.

Answer: New Orleans

Super Bowl LIX was the 11th time that the game has been played in New Orleans and it was the eighth time the game had been played in the Superdome, three more than any other stadium. Only Miami has hosted the Super Bowl as many times as New Orleans. The first Super Bowl played at the Superdome was Super Bowl XII on January 15, 1978, when the Cowboys defeated the Broncos 27-10 to win their second Super Bowl.

Interestingly, the New Orleans Saints had only had a winning season once, 9-7 in 1989, during the 11 years that the Super Bowl was played in New Orleans and indeed had never made the playoffs in any of those 11 seasons.

The uniqueness of New Orleans as an American city was highlighted at this game by the entertainment and pre-match traditions, all given a New Orleans slant. Grammy Award winners Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle (with members of Orleans Avenue) brought their Big Easy to the spectacle when they sang "America The Beautiful" in a Jazz-based arrangement.

Answer: Hurts scored a 1-yard quarterback sneak touchdown

Defence won this Super Bowl. Both teams' first drive ended in punts (one of only two for the entire team for the Eagles). The first down on Mahomes first pass was notable as the 11-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster was the only first down the Chiefs made in the first half. On their second drive, Eagles constructed a 7-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that concluded with a 20-yard pass to Dallas Goedert. However, despite an initial call of touchdown, he was ruled short. What followed was an Eagles trademark play: Jalen Hurts scored from a 1-yard quarterback sneak touchdown.

Next the Chiefs had to punt, followed by the Eagles getting to the Chiefs 30-yard line in 11 plays early in the second quarter before Hurts threw his only interception of the game. Fortunately it wasn't costly as the Chiefs made only seven yards and went three and out and punted.

Answer: Eagles scored a TD from an interception (pick-6)

The Eagles led 10-0 after an Elliot field goal. Mahomes was sacked twice on successive plays. On the third play, the Eagles Cooper DeJean anticipated and undercut a route by the Chiefs' DeAndre Hopkins and picked off Mahomes. He then raced in for a 38-yard pick-6 in a Super Bowl. A pick-6 in a Super Bowl is rare but DeJean was the only one to score one on his (22nd) birthday (It was also Saquon Barkley's birthday).

This was the first Super Bowl pick-six since Robert Alford scored one for Atlanta against New England in Super Bowl LI. Of the 14 pick-6s scored in a Super Bowl, the one in Super Bowl LI was the only one where the team with the pick lost. (Tampa Bay had three pick-6s against the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII). The signs were looking ominous for the Chiefs but not many would have written them off with them 17-0 with over two quarters to play.

Answer: 4

It got worse for the Chiefs. After the pick-6 in the second quarter, the Chiefs had three more drives in the quarter: Two were three-and-outs. With the other, Zack Baun, an Eagles' linebacker intercepted Mahomes on the first play (Until this match, Mahomes' last intercept pass was in week 11 of the regular season). That interception was costly as it ended with an Eagles' 12-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Brown. Half-time score Eagles 24, Chiefs 0.

The Chiefs started with the ball in the second half but any thoughts of a comeback were soon dashed. Mahomed passed to Worthy to gain only their second first down of the match. Mahomes was sacked twice on subsequent plays until they punted. The Eagles responded with a 69-yard march downfield to land a field goal. Next drive saw the Chiefs use five plays to advance 17 yards (but it did include a nine-yard pass to Kelce for his first reception for the game). They took a fourth down pass but it was incomplete. Starting from the Chiefs' 47-yard line, Hurts threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith to score a major. Eagles 34-0.

On the next play the Chiefs moved downfield from their 10-yard line, and, in five plays Mahomes sent a 24-yard pass to Xavier Worthy who scored the Chiefs' first touchdown with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. Mahomes pass to Kelce for a two-point conversion failed.

Answer: Eagles 40-22, Hurts

Early in the quarter, the Eagles fans were celebrating a win early. Not many would have thought that the Chiefs could win from here (Super Bowl LI anyone? Ask an Atlanta Hawks fan). The Eagles scored a couple of field goals. After the first one, on the Chiefs' first play, Milton Williams strip-sacked Mahomes (six sacks for the game) at the Chiefs' 18-yard line with Williams recovering the ball. Elliot subsequently kicked a 50-yard field goal. Eagles 40-6

The Chiefs then constructed a 12-play 75-yard drive resulting in a 7-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins for a touchdown, with a successful 2-point conversion from Mahomes to Justin Watson. Eagles 40-14. The Eagles' last play was a turnover on downs. Mahomes replied with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Worthy. The 2-point conversion attempt with a pass to Hopkins was successful, for a final 40-22 score.

Hurts stats were 17-for-22 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He added 11 carries for 72 yards and a TD. His MVP award was undisputed. Saquon Barkley had a quiet day by his standards but his 25 carries for 57 yards meant he had 2405 yards for the season breaking the record held by Terrell Davis, who ran for 2,476 yards in 1999 (19 games). Barkley also had six receptions for 40 yards. Smith and Brown combined for seven receptions from 10 targets for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

However, the game was won by the Eagles' defence. they had six sacks (the most Mahomes had suffered in any game), 11 quarterback hits, four pass breakups, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Philadelphia Eagles were worthy winners of Super Bowl LIX.