Patrick Mahomes' Super Bowl LIX first-half struggles underlined by incredible stat

A stunning first half of Super Bowl LIX saw the Philadelphia Eagles lead the Kansas City Chiefs 24-0 at the break in New Orleans.

The 24-point half-time lead was the second-biggest in the history of the game, just one point shy of the 25-point lead that Washington had over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII after the first two quarters.

Most surprising was the play of the Chiefs three-time Super Bowl MPV quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who completed just six of 14 passes for 33 yards and two costly interceptions.

His first pick was returned 38 yards for a touchdown by Eagles cornerback Cooper Dejean, while his second came deep in his own territory, with Philadelphia linebacker Zack Baun picking the ball off at the Chiefs 14-yard line, with Jalen Hurts subsequently throwing a touchdown pass to AJ Brown to put the Eagles 24-0 up.

Remarkably, Mahomes’ passer rating was just 10.7 – making it the third-worst first-half that any quarterback has had all season, behind Denver’s Bo Nix against the LA Chargers in Week 6 and Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Eagles in Week 9, as per Bill Barnwell of ESPN.

Mahomes’ favourite target Travis Kelce also had a first-half to forget, as he had zero receptions at the interval in a playoff game for the first time in his career, after he was targeted just twice.

The rampant Eagles defence also sacked Mahomes four times in the opening half, including takedowns on back-to-back plays before the pick-six to Dejean.

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