Did you ever doubt him? Chiefs’ Mahomes recovers from bad start to earn Super Bowl MVP
It was a downer of a game for Patrick Mahomes — until it became a glorious one.
Through his first 31 starts coming into Super Bowl 54, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Mahomes had passed for 9,412 yards, more than Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Dan Marino, John Elway, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Steve Young and Johnny Unitas.
Mahomes had thrown only five interceptions this season in 484 pass attempts, and suffered no multi-pick games — until Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium, and in back-to-back second-half drives no less.
He had been sacked only 17 times all season, and got hammered three times Sunday.
But the rarely inaccurate Mahomes turned into the often heroic Mahomes, who trailing 20-10, led the Chiefs to three fourth-quarter touchdowns for a 31-20 win against the San Francisco 49ers. In doing so, Mahomes became MVP of the biggest sporting event in America.
“It’s this team,’’ said Mahomes, only 24, as red confetti rained down atop the elated Chiefs. “We have heart. We never give up. The leaders we have on this team, we have that mindset we never give up. We fight till the end.”
Mahomes completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown. He also threw two interceptions for the first time this season.
Heading into the big game, this was the repeated refrain: “Kansas City’s offense and gifted young quarterback Mahomes’ no-look wizardry vs. San Francisco’s fiery first-round-filled defensive line’’— or something like that.
After the first half, the MVP honor — usually a quarterback-driven award — was still waiting to be secured. Mahomes had completed 12 of 18 passes for 104 yards, and one of his two rushes up until then went for seven points off a 1-yard bootleg to the right with 31 seconds left in the opening quarter.
In the first half, the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo had completed 9 of his 11 passes for 89 yards and a 15-yard touchdown pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk with 5:05 left in the second quarter. But on the second play of the second quarter, Garoppolo heaved a pass that was intended for Deebo Samuel and intercepted by Bashaud Breeland at the Kansas City 43-yard line.
Nine plays and four-and-a-half minutes later, Harrison Butker kicked a 31-yard field goal to put the Chiefs up 10-3 at 9:32.
Later, at third-and-12 from the Chiefs’ 39 — one play after Mahomes fumbled for the second time (Kansas City maintained possession twice) — Mahomes’ pass deep to the right side was intercepted by middle linebacker Fred Warner at the San Francisco 42.
The 49ers proceeded to drive 55 yards on six plays, culminated with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Raheem Mostert with 2:35 left in the third quarter to put the 49ers up 20-10.
Mahomes threw his second interception early in the final quarter on a pass intended for Tyreek Hill and picked off by Tarvarius Moore at the San Francisco 13.
“Yeah, I mean, they have an amazing defense,’’ Mahomes said. “They’re one of the best defenses that I’ve been up against in my career. We weren’t executing at a high enough level, and when you play a defense like that, you’re not going to have success.”
But the 49ers couldn’t convert, and Mahomes slipped into his Superman cape. The first comeback score was on a 1-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce on an 83-yard drive that took 2:40 off the clock.
The second comeback score, the game clincher, was a 5-yard pass to running back Damien Williams, who grasped the ball with both hands and just managed to touch the orange pylon inbounds as he dove into the right corner of the end zone to make it 24-20 Kansas City. The touchdown came with 2:44 left.
The final blow to San Francisco was a 38-yard touchdown run by Williams with 1:12 left.
“I’m just glad our guys kept fighting and we found a way to get it in the end.’’
This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 10:58 PM.
