Jalen Hurts said he took inspiration from his doubters after his Super Bowl loss two years ago, and used it to fuel his Most Valuable Player performance on Sunday.
The 26-year-old quarterback threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in a virtuoso performance to power the Philadelphia Eagles to a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. Hurts completely outshone opposite number Patrick Mahomes who endured a nightmare evening, being sacked six times by the rampant Eagles defence.
Hurts completed 17 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while rushing 11 times for 72 yards and a touchdown to capture the MVP award after enduring years of critics saying he would never be a champion following a 2023 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, who were denied in their bid for a 'three-peat'.
No team had previously won back-to-back titles and returned to the Super Bowl, but the Chiefs rarely looked like completing the treble and a fourth win in six years.
"I never said it bothered me. I accepted it for what it was. I found a thrill in it," Hurts said of the criticism he endured after defeat in 2023.
"I can't control what these people think. If it takes all the hate and all the scrutiny and all the different opinions for me to be a world champion, then keep it coming."
Hurts kept the image of him walking off the field after Super Bowl 57 with Chiefs-coloured confetti falling down around him as the screen saver image on his phone.
"That's something nobody is supposed to know about," Hurts said, but admitted that a new image with him holding the championship trophy would be better. "Damn right it is," he said.
Hurts became the first player to ever lead his team in passing and rushing yards in multiple Super Bowls, having done so in 2023 and 2025. He also became the second player with two touchdown passes, a rushing touchdown, and more than 50 rushing yards in a Super Bowl after legend Joe Montana. And he broke his own Super Bowl record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 72.
Hurts suffered a concussion against Washington on December 22 and missed the team's final two regular-season games but returned for the playoffs and was decisive in orchestrating four post-season triumphs.
"It has been a long year of competition and we change things, but we get our reps in, we work," Hurts said. "When I came back from the concussion, the number one thing I said going into the post-season was let's look back at this and say it was all worth it. It's worth it. Everything was worth it."
Eagles defence dominates
The Eagles were denied a promising field position on the opening possession when AJ Brown was adjudged to have fouled cornerback Trent McDuffie after catching a 30-yard pass from Hurts on fourth down.
They went close again midway through the first quarter, but having been ruled down a yard short they opened the scoring when Hurts was driven over from close range. Hurts looked to stretch the advantage early in the second quarter, but his attempted pass was intercepted by Bryan Cook.
The Eagles stretched their lead midway through the second quarter as Jake Elliott added a 48-yard field goal after being moved back five yards by another penalty.
Mahomes’ difficult evening continued as he was sacked for a second time on the first down after the score. It got worse on the next play, Cooper DeJean intercepting his pass and returning it 38 yards for a touchdown on his 22nd birthday, Elliott adding the extra point to make it 17-0.
Mahomes was sacked again as the Chiefs again failed to respond and were forced to punt. Worse was to come for the quarterback, linebacker Zack Baun intercepting him deep in Chiefs territory and the Eagles took full advantage with Hurts finding Brown for another touchdown.
More penalties dogged the Chiefs’ final drive of the half as they reached the break 24-0 down – the second-highest half-time deficit in the Super Bowl – after a mere 23 yards of offence.
The second half started in much the same fashion, the Eagles sacking Mahomes again as the Chiefs were once more forced to punt. The Eagles were stopped near the Chiefs line, but Elliott was able to stretch the gap with a field goal.
That lead grew even further after another stalled Chiefs drive, Hurts finding DeVonta Smith from 46 yards for another touchdown. The Chiefs finally got on the scoreboard just before the end of the third quarter, Mahomes finding Xavier Worth to get them into Eagles territory and then connecting with the same player from almost on the sideline. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Another Elliott field goal stretched the gap to 37-6 and he struck again from 50 yards after the Chiefs defence once more sacked Mahomes and recovered the ball.
A seven-yard touchdown catch by DeAndre Hopkins and a 50-yard effort from Worthy late on, both with two-point conversions, gave the scoreline a less lopsided appearance.
Mahomes takes the blame
There was a three-play sequence in the second quarter that summed up Mahomes' evening.
Philadelphia had taken a 10-0 lead and the two-time defending champions were on the ropes when Mahomes was sacked by the Eagles' Josh Sweat. On the next play, Sweat took him out again. And on the ensuing play, the two-time NFL MVP was under such pressure that Mahomes threw an interception that DeJean returned 38 yards for a score.
Six sacks. Three turnovers. And not a sliver of Mahomes magic. By the time he trudged off the Superdome turf, and the Eagles were able to run down the last seconds from the clock, Mahomes and the Chiefs were sent home with a humbling, almost embarrassing defeat on the big stage.
“They played better than us from start to finish,” Mahomes said. "We didn't start how we wanted to. The turnovers hurt. I take all the blame for that. Those turnovers swing the moment of the game and they capitalized on them. They scored on one and got a touchdown immediately after another. That's 14 points I gave them. It's hard to come back from that in the Super Bowl.
“I didn't play to my standard,” Mahomes added. “And I have to be better next time.”
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LIVERPOOL SQUAD
Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Joe Gomez, Adrian, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Andy Lonergan, Xherdan Shaqiri, Andy Robertson, Divock Origi, Curtis Jones, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Neco Williams
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
NATIONAL%20SELECTIONS
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Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Company%20profile
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STAGE%201%20RESULTS
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
STAY%2C%20DAUGHTER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYasmin%20Azad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESwift%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fourth-round clashes for British players
- Andy Murray (1) v Benoit Paire, Centre Court (not before 4pm)
- Johanna Konta (6) v Caroline Garcia (21), Court 1 (4pm)
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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