The Philadelphia Eagles are not Super Bowl 57 champions*.

Why, you may ask, is there an asterisk at the end of that sentence? Well, because for so many fans of the Eagles and of just football in general, one single play at the end of the game will forever define what was an otherwise incredibly entertaining Super Bowl; a play that, as Greg Olson repeatedly pointed out on commentary, ultimately didn't have an effect on the game's final score. You see, on third at eight with 1:54 left to play, James Bradberry put his hands on the back of JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s jersey before Patrick Mahones threw a pass to the corner of the endzone that was out of reach of every player on the field.

By throwing the flag, the Chiefs got a new set of downs 11 yards away from the endzone and were ultimately able to run the clock down before kicking a tie-breaking field goal with only eight seconds left on the clock. Had the flag not been thrown, maybe the Chiefs still win the game, but there's a pretty good chance they kick a field goal, and the Eagles earn an opportunity to work their way down the field and prove whether or not Jalen Hurts is worthy of being in the MVP conversation.

Fortunately, fans online took it upon themselves to file a series of complaints in the Eagles' favor, with some pretty famous fans of football giving their two cents to whomever it may concern.

Super Bowl 57 will forever be marred by one blown call.

Did the Philadelphia Eagles lose Super Bowl 57 because of a bad referee call? Not completely; no, one can point to Hurts' fumble-six in the first half, the decision to punt on fourth-and-2 and even the poor special teams efforts on the proceeding punt return to Kadarius Toney – an issue that's been plaguing the Eagles all season long – all played into the final score in a negative way, but that play effectively removed the Birds' margin for error and left the fate of their future on a chip-shot field goal and a hail mary attempt from the 36.

Some, like politics journalist Aaron Rupar, pointed out that seeing a game decided on a “soft call,” especially the most important game of the year, is just the worst.

Others made light of the situation, suggesting that Nick Sirianni wasn't crying during the opening of the game because he was taken by the excitement of the moment but rather because he saw the final script of the game and was crying because of how brutal his first Super Bowl loss was going to feel.

For fans out of the know, ex-Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster suggested on his podcast that the NFL is, in fact, scripted, and instead of practice plays throughout the week, teams are instead studying scripts presented to them during training camp, including such notes like a holding call on third down at the end of the Super Bowl. Is it true? Nope, but hey, the meme has certainly caught on with the fans, and in a way, that's all that really matters.

Even LeBron James got in on the fun, suggesting that while he didn't have a dog in the race, he didn't believe the initial contact didn't have anything to do with the outcome of the play, and as a result, it was a cheap way to affect the most important play of the game.

Fortunately, Bradberry isn't holding the play as a great “what-if” of his career, as he knows he held on the play but simply hoped that it wouldn't be called. “It was a holding,” Bradberry said via Ari Meirov. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”

Smith-Schuster too weighed in on the play too, telling reporters that he was “100%” held and that while Bradberry is a good player, that call gets called, even in the Super Bowl. 

In the end, the Eagles did not get that final kick to bounce their way, did not connect on that final Hail Mary, and now have to head back to Philadelphia wondering how they will retool their roster moving forward, as they will all but surely be without Shane Steichen as their offensive coordinator and will likely lose more than a few players to free agency – maybe even Bradberry – who they will struggle to fit under the cap. Still, as Nick Sirianni pointed out in his postgame comments, the team didn't lose the game because of just one play.