Another Super Bowl is in the books! And barring an ending that felt a little bit like an accidental fart, this one was pretty great. The offenses went off. Jalen Hurts ran for three touchdowns. Pat Mahomes was dependable as hell. There were even defensive scores, clutch special teams plays—Rihanna brought out a surprise guest in her belly! Good times were had. Now it’s time to wade through the thick post-Super Bowl haze to highlight our most memorable moments. The Identity Staff dives into another Morning After.
The ending of Eagles-Chiefs was:
Thompson Brandes: Lame. Especially following one of the more entertaining games in Super Bowl memory. The Chiefs and Eagles combined for nine touchdowns and 757 yards of offense. Kadarius Toney had himself a night! I’m pretty sure everyone outside of Kansas City wanted another Jalen Hurts possession. But holding’s holding, I guess. And an old-school, chip shot extra point from Harrison Butker is what we got. Kinda flappy.
Ben Shotten: “I used to pray for times like this…”
Rafael Agosto: Scripted.
Alicia Armes: I went to sleep halfway through the third 😬.
Kaylee Glyder: The worst part of the game. They kept it entertaining and engaging, happy it was close, but a rough finish. I also think Travis Kelce needs to cool it with the petty postgame interviews…
RiRi! What was your favorite moment from Rihanna’s halftime performance?
Thompson Brandes: The camera work? The performance itself felt pretty safe albeit cool. (She was pregnant, folks!) And I’m not sure we’ll remember one song more than another a year or even a month from now. But the Rihanna stare-into-the-camera memes have the potential to last forever.
Ben Shotten: When she was floating around on those platforms. She looked like she was in a real life “Super Smash Bros.” game.
Rafael Agosto: Everything, her entire catalogue is straight bangers.
Alicia Armes: I loved the anticipation right before! All week there was so much chatter about what song would be first and who she would bring out, so to finally being able to watch the performance was great.
Kaylee Glyder: The song lineup. I feel like I haven’t had her music in rotation for a while, so it was refreshing to singalong to. Though I thought the performance itself was super underwhelming. I didn’t love that she wore red on a red stage. I can only imagine how hard it must have to see her live! If it was any other recent artist with that type of show, it would have been a hard no-go.
Which was your favorite Super Bowl Commercial on the night?
Thompson Brandes: Tight! Tight! Tight!
Ben Shotten: Can I name two? The Pepsi Zero Sugar commercials with Ben Stiller and Steve Martin. I also liked the Busch Beer one with Sarah McLachlan poking fun at her old rescue commercial with her song “Angel.”
Rafael Agosto: “Jesse we have to cook!”
Alicia Armes: The Tubi TV commercial was one of the best. Loved seeing reactions on TikTok this morning.
Kaylee Glyder: I expected more from the M&Ms after their claim to cancel their candy mascots. I also think this year the commercials hit hard with big name celebrities to make up for average commercials. (I.E. Steve Martin and Pepsi) The Raketun and Clueless crossover was pretty funny!
The U.F.O. Balloons: China? Aliens? Or U2?
Thompson Brandes: I have so many questions regarding U2’s blatant reference to the U.F.O. balloon conundrum plaguing the internet (and maybe the world?) right now. Did they shoot that commercial before these sightings all happened? If not, who made the call to make that last-minute addition? Until a national government tells me otherwise, I can only assume an explanation from Bono is forthcoming after one of the weirdest marketing campaigns since the last time U2, uh, marketed.
Ben Shotten: I’m not going to say “aliens,” but it’s aliens.
Rafael Agosto: I think China is working with the aliens, using U2 as a deep cover to infiltrate our confidential information systems.
Alicia Armes: U2, they know too much.
Kaylee Glyder: Just weird, I get the concept of the Sphere. But seemed a little in bad taste.
Early prediction for next year’s Super Bowl matchup:
Thompson Brandes: Bengals-49ers feels like the safe, halftime-show play here.
Ben Shotten: Eagles-Bills.
Rafael Agosto: Arizona Cardinals vs. Houston Texans. Book it.
Alicia Armes: Sticking to my futures bet, Bengals as one of the teams.
Kaylee Glyder: I don’t think that’s the last of Jalen Hurts on the big stage. But I don’t know if I can take back-to-back years of Philly fans.