Rihanna Rocked Super Bowl LVII, But We Missed The Real Halftime Show

The world was focused on pop star Rihanna, and without question she offered one of the more extraordinary performances ever, one that was watched by millions around the world. But the halftime show I would have paid extra to watch wasn’t happening on the field. It was happening beneath the stadium in the Kansas City Chiefs locker room.

That’s where, by all accounts, and there were numerous accounts, the Chiefs players and coaching staff gathered to make adjustments and find a way to put the first half of Super Bowl LVII behind them and exhort each to treat the second half as a shot at redemption. And it worked. In the second half, the Chiefs, who entered the third quarter trailing the Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 and clearly playing on their heels with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes reinjuring his ankle, came back to beat the slightly favored Eagles 38-35.

What exactly did transpire in the locker room while all the world watched Rihanna?

We’ll never know exactly what was said, but I have a pretty good idea based on what happened after halftime ended. In my study of great teams, I’ve noted how that when all else fails, the best teams are those who are best at making adjustments. The single biggest key to handling any kind of change effectively — be it a small change or a life-altering or career-altering moment like the Chiefs were facing — is the perspective you bring to the moment. Great teams adapt to and embrace change through their attitude and actions.

Time and again, I’ve seen this dynamic played out, and it was performed to perfection on Sunday. When the Chiefs went into their locker room, they could point to exactly what wasn’t working: they were not containing the Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts. The numbers said it all. In the first half, Hurts broke former Titans quarterback Steve McNair's 23-year-old Super Bowl record for the most yards rushing by a quarterback in a half by running for 63 yards. Hurts set another Super Bowl record by running for two touchdowns in the first half.

And that is what the Kansas City Chiefs’ players and coaching staff tackled beneath the stands while everyone cheered on Rihanna: how to adjust their game — with special attention on their defense — to stop the peripatetic Hurts from running all over them.

And what kind of adjustment did they effect in so short a time? On the defensive side, the Chiefs became more disciplined in every facet of the game, but especially in having players play “in their lanes” rather than allowing themselves to be pulled out or position. The added discipline produced the intended effect by containing Hurts in the pocket to such an extent that he managed to finish the game with only seven more yards than he had by the half.

The Chiefs’ new discipline had broken the spell the Eagles, particularly Hurts, seemed to have them under in the first half because the Chiefs fixed the problem. (Nothing demoralizes a defense more than a quarterback who scrambles at will on them.) Football includes an offense as well as defense, and the commitment the players made to double down on discipline — all puns intended! — galvanized the Mahomes-led offense to hold up their end of the deal, which they did by scoring 24 points after the break.

Indeed, while Hurts was the guy who broke the records, Mahomes is the guy who will soon be getting fitted for his second Championship ring, having registered 182 yards passing and three touchdowns, as well as his own 44 hard-earned rushing yards — a feat all the more impressive considering the blow he took to his injured ankle in the first half.

Comparisons have been made between the Chiefs’ come-from-behind victory and that of the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots who erased a 28-3 deficit to emerge victorious by beating the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. And, for that matter, comparisons are being made between Mahomes and Brady as well.

After that Patriot comeback, Brady said “So anytime we’re down in a game, I think, ‘Man, if we come back and win this game, we’re the hero,’ rather than, ‘Oh, (expletive), we’re screwed. We have no shot.'”

On Sunday, the Chiefs spent their halftime figuring out what they needed to do differently to win the game and create the shots they didn’t get in the first half. And who knows, maybe one of the songs Rihanna did not sing during halftime — her “Lift Me Up” from the soundtrack to “Black Panther” — found a way to stream itself subliminally in the Chiefs’ minds?

On Sunday, the Chiefs found the way to lift themselves up. And now they’re the heroes.