CHIEFS LB NICK BOLTON UNSUNG HERO IN SUPER BOWL LVII
Defense wins championships. Although this phrase hasn’t been applicable to the Kansas City Chiefs in recent times, it sure was accurate with regard to the Missouri-based team on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Both teams scored at least four touchdowns in what was an incredible Super Bowl game that totaled 73 points. While it might not look like it on paper, one team’s defense certainly came to play, and so did a linebacker from Mizzou by the name of Nick Bolton.
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said last week ahead of the game that there would be an unsung hero for the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. “In this game, there’s somebody that hasn’t been mentioned that’s going to step up,” said the former Eagles head coach who was facing his former team for the first time in the postseason since his 2012 departure.
Coming into Sunday’s showdown at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, the thought of the Chiefs’ defense outplaying the Eagles’ defense was unfathomable considering the Eagles had a top-ten unit in the league in 2022. While the Chiefs’ offense has always been one of the best in the NFL, their defense has usually left much to be desired.
According to NextGenStats, including linebackers Willie Gay and Leo Chenal, the Chiefs linebacker unit put up 15 defensive stops, the 4th-most by a Chiefs linebacker group in a game since 2016.
KC’s defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo heaped praise on Bolton after the game, saying he was the “quarterback” of the defense. “We actually did score on defense…that was big,” Spagnuolo said. “You can’t play really good defense, solid defense in any game without a guy in the middle. He’s our quarterback. Functions like that… I love him. I think people should recognize [him]. He’s going to be a good player for a long time.”
Bolton, a 22-year-old second-year linebacker from the University of Missouri had the best game of his young career on Sunday night. With the Philadelphia Eagles taken five yards back after a false start penalty on guard Isaac Seomalo on third down and 1, an unblocked Nick Bolton in a 5-man rush buried Jalen Hurts into the ground in what would be a pivotal sack fumble.
The Chiefs were trailing 14-7 in the second quarter before Bolton scooped up his own forced fumble and ran 36 yards for the score. As Bolton reached a top speed of 19.9 mph on the fumble return, the Chiefs’ win probability doubled from 27 percent to 54 percent, as per NextGenStats. Arguably the turning point of the game, Bolton’s scoop and score was the first fumble return touchdown in all 41 playoff games for the franchise and the second of his NFL career.
A 2021 second-round pick that largely flew under the radar, Bolton almost struck again early in the third quarter when he scooped up what was initially called a Miles Sanders fumble and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. The play would later come back as replay reviews deemed Sanders had not completed the process of the catch and the go-ahead score was taken off the board.
Bolton later admitted he was aware the pass was incomplete. “I knew that was incomplete,” he remarked in the postgame presser.
Speaking after the game, Bolton mentioned he had a dream this week about scoring a fumble return. “I actually had a dream about scoop-and-scoring and winning the Super Bowl two nights ago,” Bolton said. “For it to happen, it’s surreal.
“My left hand might have hit [the ball] as I wrapped him up. I was really praying for a good bounce and I got one. It hopped up right in my hands like a shortstop, and I was able to grab it and go.”
The two-time First-team All-SEC linebacker led the Kansas City Chiefs in tackles for the night with nine and was crucial in stopping the run. The Eagles struggled to move the ball on the ground the whole game and Bolton certainly played his part in that. The Texas-born linebacker stopped Kenneth Gainwell short of the sticks on third down and forced a field goal late in the third quarter, a play that kept the Chiefs’ deficit at one score, 27-21.
“That’s how playoff games go, the Super Bowl, ebbs and flows,” Bolton said. “You have to find a way to stay [in] the middle line. You have to find a way to win at the end.”
Touted by a few fans to be Super Bowl MVP, Nick Bolton is the first Mizzou player in history to ever score in the Super Bowl. Bolton was all smiles after the game when that feat was mentioned to him. “That’s special,” he said. The University of Missouri has now had three of its alumni win a ring in the last three Super Bowls. Bolton joins a group that includes former tight end Kendall Blanton and quarterback Blaine Gabbert who won Super Bowl LVI and LV with the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers respectively.
As for the Kansas City Chiefs, they should be excited about this team going forward. Four of the five touchdowns scored on Sunday were scored by players who haven’t played more than three seasons in the league, including two rookies, Isaiah Pacheco, and Skyy Moore. This is also only Bolton’s second year in the pro ranks.
With the tandem of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce not going anywhere anytime soon, this team might just be set up to become one of the most dominant teams in the league in the coming decade.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Christopher Thornbury. This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.