Chiefs eliminate 10-point halftime deficit, beat Eagles on late kick to win Super Bowl 57
Patrick Mahomes scanned the field but with no open receiver, he tucked the ball into his right arm and took off on a beeline into the open field, gimpy ankle and all.
Eagles middle linebacker Kyzir White finally caught up to Mahomes and tripped him from behind, leaving him grimacing, but not before he sent the Kansas City Chiefs infinitely closer to another Super Bowl victory.
The quarterback’s 26-yard scramble to the Eagles’ 17-yard line set up kicker Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining, as the Chiefs defeated the Eagles, 38-35, to win Super Bowl 57.
It’s the second championship in the last four years for Kansas City, which won the Super Bowl three years ago but failed in their repeat attempt the following season.
“It hasn’t even sunk it yet,” Mahomes said. “I appreciate it because of the failures. The failure of losing a Super Bowl and losing an AFC championship game and that gives you a greater appreciation of standing here as a champion.”
The Chiefs trailed 24-14 at halftime but outscored Philadelphia 24-11 in the second half behind the play of Mahomes and a defense that held off a record-setting performance from quarterback Jalen Hurts.
It’s the fourth time a team has overcome a second-half deficit of at least 10 points to win the Super Bowl, joining the New England Patriots in Super Bowls 49 and 51, as well as Mahomes’ Chiefs in Super Bowl 54.
“I don’t want to say we played tight in the first half,” Mahomes said, “but you didn’t see that same joy that we play with. I wanted guys to just know that everything we worked for is for this moment. You have to enjoy this moment. You can’t let the moment overtake you.”
Mahomes, who on Thursday night was awarded his second league Most Valuable Player award, was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. He threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came in the second half, and also ran for 44 yards, much of it coming after he seemed to reinjure his sprained ankle late in the second quarter.
The Chiefs took their first lead of the game at 28-27 after Mahomes’ 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kadarius Toney with 12 minutes remaining and extended the lead to eight when Mahomes found wide receiver Skyy Moore for a 4-yard touchdown with nine minutes left. The second score was set up by a Super Bowl-record 65-yard punt return from Toney to the Eagles’ 5-yard line.
The Eagles tied the score on the following possession, as Hurts’ 2-yard touchdown run — his third of the game — and ensuing 2-point conversion on a quarterback sweep evened the game at 35 with five minutes left.
Hurts completed 27 of 38 passes for 304 yards and one touchdown, and he rushed for 70 yards, a Super Bowl record for a quarterback. His three rushing touchdowns were also a Super Bowl record for a quarterback and tied Terrell Davis for the most-ever by a player in the championship game. His sole blemish of the night was a second-quarter fumble that was returned by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton to tie the game at 14.
“You either win or you learn,” Hurts said. “Win, lose, I always reflect on the things I could have done better, anything you could have done better to try and take that next step. That’ll be the same process I always have going on.”
Mahomes’ scramble on the deciding possession came with a little more than two minutes remaining but the Eagles seemed primed to get the ball back earlier for a final drive, if not for a questionable penalty. Mahomes’ third-and-8 pass three plays later was incomplete with 1:48 remaining, several yards away from intended receiver JuJu Smith-Schuste, but cornerback James Bradberry was flagged for holding on Smith-Schuster, allowing Kansas City to bring the game clock down even further ahead of the game-winning kick.
Hurts’ Hail Mary pass attempt as time expired hit the turf several yards short of the end zone.
“It was a holding. I pulled on his jersey,” Bradberry said. “I was hoping they would let it ride.”
The two teams each traded a pair of scores to open the game before the Eagles scored 10 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead at halftime. On Kansas City’s final possession of the first half, Mahomes appeared to aggravate his ankle injury after he was tripped up by T.J. Edwards while scrambling. Mahomes, who initially sprained his ankle in the divisional round but was not on the final injury report, hobbled to the sideline and was seen grimacing.
“I felt really good and then that happened and [there was] a lot of soreness going through into halftime,” said Mahomes, who added he didn’t receive a pain-killing injection during the intermission. “I was able to move it around, kind of get taped up a little bit and go out there in that second half. It didn’t feel good but I was going to leave it all out there and I’m glad that it was enough for the win.”
Mahomes was back on the field to open the second half, and the Chiefs reduced their deficit to three, 24-21, with a 1-yard run by running back Isiah Pacheco. The 10-play drive included seven runs, including a 14-yard scramble from Mahomes, emblematic of a consistent effort on the ground for the typically pass-happy Chiefs. Kansas City out-gained the Eagles in the running game, 158 to 115, and was led by Pacheco’s 76 yards.
For the last five seasons, the Chiefs have asserted themselves as the preeminent team in the AFC, hosting the previous four conference championship games. But Kansas City entered the 2022 season with questions about their offense after trading away wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who helped the franchise win Super Bowl 54 and was Mahomes’ favorite target not named Travis Kelce.
And in their third Super Bowl in four seasons, they faced an Eagles team that was the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the league’s most consistent squad throughout the season.
But Kansas City, which still had the trio of Mahomes, Kelce and head coach Andy Reid, emerged from a conference with multiple young, talented quarterbacks. And though they were led by the heroics of Mahomes on Sunday, the Chiefs got contributions across the board, whether it was an offensive line that did not allow a sack, Mahomes’ cast of pass-catchers, or a defense that limited Hurts and the Eagles’ offense to 147 total yards in the second half.
“We were down by 10 and that’s not a lot with our defense and our offense in this type of game,” said Reid, who defeated a Philadelphia franchise he led for 14 seasons. “You’ve got two of the best teams in football playing. That’s not a lot of points. You’ve got to hang with each other and good things will happen. That was all I had to say [to the team at halftime].”
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 10:25 PM.
