Breaking down the Super Bowl, plus Timberwolves ownership battle coming to a close

["FLY, EAGLES, FLY" PLAYING] NINA MOINI: This is the Philadelphia Orchestra performing the fight song, "Fly, Eagles, Fly," which filled the Superdome in New Orleans yesterday. The Eagles handed it to the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, winning 40-22. Back in Philly, fans took to the streets, climbing street poles and city trucks that were parked to block off roads.

The last time the Eagles had a Super Bowl win to celebrate was in 2018, when they beat the New England Patriots. Remember that? That was right here in Minnesota. So joining me now to recap the big game are sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Thanks for being here, guys.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey Nina, how are you today?

ERIC NELSON: Happy super Monday.

NINA MOINI: Happy super Monday. I hope they greased those light poles well in Philly. [CHUCKLES] So what went right yesterday for the Eagles, Wally?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, besides winning the football game, number one was their defense. They did not have to blitz Patrick Mahomes once, meaning sending extra defenders towards the quarterback. They just rushed for basically the entire game. And they still recorded six sacks. They kept Mahomes off-balance all day, which led to two interceptions.

He hurried a bunch of footballs. They had some drop balls. Their defense was really the key to their victory. And then on the flip side, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was named game MVP. He rushed for a game high 72 yards and a touchdown. And he also threw two touchdowns in 221 yards.

So it really was the defense of the Eagles putting pressure on the Chiefs' offense, forcing them to do things that they were not ready to or not accustomed to doing. And Patrick Mahomes looked human. As good as he's been, as many Super Bowls that he has won-- two in a row, by the way, coming into this--

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: --he did not excel because he had so much pressure from that Eagles defensive line. And give him credit. That's what really won the football game. It was a snoozer, to be honest. It was-- what-- 34-0 to nothing before Kansas City even scored. So this game was decided early. And really, the Chiefs had no business being on the same field with the Eagles yesterday.

NINA MOINI: Oh, that's tough because like you mentioned, they won the last two super bowls. And you mentioned what was going on with Patrick Mahomes. But what else happened to them this time, do you think, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Well, to echo what Wally just said, Kansas City was simply overpowered by a physical Philadelphia team. They did have those six sacks. And Josh Sweat had two of them. They harassed, hurried, and chased Patrick Mahomes all over the Superdome. They almost ran him into the nearby Mississippi River.

And if you go back to Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, when the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs 31-9, it was the same blueprint, where they were in the face of Mahomes all game. And he didn't play well. The entire offense didn't click. And a lot of the credit, I think, has to go to Eagles Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, who has been in the NFL for decades as an assistant coach or a head coach.

They rattled Mahomes all day. And let's go back to when Fangio was the head coach for Denver. And Denver plays in the same division, the AFC West, as Kansas City. He was 0-8 against Mahomes and the Chiefs. So he finally found a blueprint, a way to knock off the guy they call the Magic Man, Patrick Mahomes.

And when you're not blitzing, again, as Wally pointed out, your linebackers and defensive backs can sit there in coverage, read the quarterback's eyes. And it benefits guys like the rookie Cooper DeJean. He had the pick 6 on his 22nd birthday, Nina. How about that for--

NINA MOINI: Cool.

ERIC NELSON: --a gift? A Super Bowl touchdown. And by the way, he played at Iowa and was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So he's an upper Midwest kid. Also, Kansas City, if you follow them all season, most of the Chiefs' wins were by razor-thin margins. So maybe things just caught up to KC on Super Bowl Sunday.

NINA MOINI: Well, and I know the Chiefs did bring in some new fans into football thanks to Taylor Swift, who is dating the Chiefs player, Travis Kelce. And I feel like that maybe has contributed for people who, like myself, don't follow football very closely. But I was looking for those Taylor Swift reaction shots. [CHUCKLES] But I wonder if this is turning into the Eagles era. And they're a really strong team in their own right, right, Wally?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yeah. There's no question that the Eagles-- look, they were in the Super Bowl two years ago losing to these same Kansas City Chiefs. Let's not forget that. And as you mentioned in the open to this segment, they won the Super Bowl here back in 2018 at US Bank Stadium.

So the Eagles are not-- they're very familiar with going deep into the postseason. And it's just this particular group of Eagles winning a Super Bowl that's a big deal. And I think, yeah, sure, they're going to have and attract fans. And as you said, some of their fans-- well, a lot of their fans-- go over the top. You mentioned that they were standing on garbage trucks and scaling light poles. Let's not forget they started some fires as well--

NINA MOINI: Oh, no.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: --in downtown Philadelphia. Yeah. This is actually minor compared to the way things went seven years ago after they won here in Minneapolis. Of course, Eagles fans trying to bring and brought seats out of the US Bank Stadium out the door. I guess they don't have enough seats in Philadelphia, so they had to bring one home.

But yeah, they've got a very, very dedicated fan base. And here's the thing about Eagles fans for yesterday that was unusual. They really didn't have anything to boo about. The only thing that they booed the entire game was Taylor Swift.

NINA MOINI: [LAUGHS] That's right. So the Eagles fans are very, very die-hard. A lot of people, though, are watching for commercials. I'm curious. Did you have a favorite, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Well, I did not see every Super Bowl ad, but the ones I saw seemed contrived and forced, most of them. I think what happens is these companies and corporations know they have millions of viewers around the globe watching. So they're trying really hard to hit a home run. And sometimes, they wind up hitting a pop-up.

But there were a couple that stuck out to me. Michelob's Ultra Challenge, which was a pickleball spot-- of course, that's the new trendy sport. And then Jeep had an ad featuring Harrison Ford, which had a huge emphasis on unity and trying to bring people together in these polarized times.

Now, USA Today and Ad Meter ranked the top spots. And Budweiser's first delivery-- that commercial came out on top for the ninth time, that Budweiser's had the winner on super Sunday.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: You can't lose by showing horses-- in this case, Clydesdales. Number 2, Lay's little farmer. And Ultra Hustle, the one I liked about pickleball from Michelob, placed third. And some info on this, Nina. 57 ads were run the entire game. A 30-second spot costs approximately $8 million.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: By comparison-- this is from sportingnews.com-- a half-minute ad for Super Bowl 1 back in 1967 cost $42,500 on CBS, $37,500 on NBC.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: Yes, both networks actually carried Super Bowl 1 simultaneously. And that will never happen again.

NINA MOINI: I love-- it's not just sports stats. You've got the financial stats. I love that. I do want to make sure that-- we only have about a minute left. And Wally, I want to make sure that we get to the Timberwolves. Can you just remind us what's going on with their ownership drama and what we're waiting for?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Sure. So it's been going on for literally months, this dispute between Glenn Taylor and Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. Now, remember-- Taylor sold the Timberwolves to Lore and Alex Rodriguez. They had a 2 or 3-year period where he would generally eventually cede ownership to them-- a percentage of it.

Well, about a year ago, he claimed-- Taylor, that is-- claimed that Lore and Alex Rodriguez defaulted on their end of the bargain. And so then he decided-- all of a sudden, he says I'm not selling the team because you didn't make payments as you were supposed to.

So it ends up in court, bottom line. And today, a three-member arbitration panel is supposed to release their results from this dispute. The arguments were made by the attorneys for both sides about three months ago. And so this three-member arbitration panel has been mulling it over here for the last few months. And today is supposed to be the day. We'll see. It has not happened as of yet.

NINA MOINI: All right. We'll be on the edge of our seats. Wally and Eric, thanks so much.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: All right. Thanks, Nina.

ERIC NELSON: Have a great day.

NINA MOINI: You, too. Those are our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.