The Philadelphia Eagles lead the Kansas City Chiefs 24-0 midway through Super Bowl LIX.
If Patrick Mahomes is somehow able to lead the Chiefs to victory, it will be the biggest halftime deficit to be overcome in Super Bowl history, breaking a record set eight years ago.
The Atlanta Falcons led the New England Patriots 21-3 at halftime during Super Bowl LI in 2017. No team had ever erased a double-digit halftime deficit to win the Super Bowl.
But none of those teams had Tom Brady as their quarterback.
The Patriots made history by climbing out of that 18-point halftime hole and stunning Atlanta 34-28 in overtime for their fifth Super Bowl title with Brady and coach Bill Belichick.
They also set the record for largest overall deficit overcome to win a Super Bowl, after Atlanta quarterback and league MVP Matt Ryan led his team on an 85-yard touchdown drive for a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Then Brady started playing like the legend he was.
Down by 16 with less than six minutes remaining in regulation, Brady led drives that culminated in a six-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola (and a conversion run by James White) and a one-yard touchdown run by White (and a Brady-to-Amendola conversion pass) to tie the score at 28.
The Patriots won the coin toss to start overtime, and the Falcons offense never saw the field. Brady started the drive with five straight completions for 50 yards. Four plays later, White ran the ball two yards into the end zone to complete the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
The Eagles are tied for the second-largest halftime lead in Super Bowl history. The record was set during Super Bowl XXII, when Washington led Denver 35-10 at the midway point. Two years later, San Francisco led Denver 27-3 at halftime of Super Bowl XXIV.
Can the Chiefs complete a similar rally? Like Brady and Belichick not too long ago, it’s tough to count out Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid in a Super Bowl.
“There’s still a lot of football left to be played,” Brady, now in the broadcast booth for Fox Sports, said late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.
