Mahomes Magic! Frantic finish by Chiefs star lifts K.C. to first title in 50 years
Patrick Mahomes — the league is yours.
And the first of what could be a bunch of Super Bowl titles, too.
The NFL’s best quarterback was the game’s best player when it mattered most Sunday.
Mahomes rallied the Chiefs from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit with touchdown passes on consecutive drives to will Kansas City past the San Francisco 49ers Sunday 31-20 in Super Bowl 54.
In doing so, he became the youngest MVP in Super Bowl history. He rallied the Chiefs to wins in three straight games that they trailed by double digits.
He did so despite a constant, overwhelming 49ers pass rush. And he did so after throwing two of the worst interceptions of his career earlier in the evening.
But Mahomes — who completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns — found his form late.
As a result, the Chiefs are champions of the world for the first time since 1969.
“We have heart,” Mahomes said. “From Day 1, coach [Andy Reid] has pushed us to be the best we can be, and we never give up.”
Ah yes, Andy Reid. He’s a Super Bowl champion for the first time in his 21 seasons as an NFL head coach.
It’s the signature moment of what probably would have been a Hall of Fame career even with a loss, but almost certainly will be one now.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Reid said, still soaking wet from his Gatorade bath.
The wildest part: For most of the second half, the Chiefs weren’t even competitive.
The 49ers scored 17 unanswered points and led 20-10 midway through the fourth. San Fran’s running game got going and couldn’t be stopped.
Until it was.
“We’ve been preaching all year, take control of our moment,” said Chiefs star defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. “We let those guys get back in it. I was proud of our defense how they responded, and then ending it with an interception [by Kendall Fuller].”
Added defensive end Frank Clark: “Specifically in the fourth quarter, they didn’t do nothing.”
And yet, the Niners were probably one more stop away from escaping with a win.
The Chiefs basically had one last chance, facing third-and-15 from their 35 midway through the fourth. Mahomes couldn’t get anything going downfield all game. But when Tyreek Hill got behind the Niners’ secondary, Mahomes threw a strike that went for 44 yards. The ensuing touchdown — a 1-yarder to Travis Kelce — seemed inevitable.
And the game, as they say, was on.
After a 49ers three-and-out, Mahomes and the Chiefs went 65 yards to the end zone in seven plays, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass to ex-Dolphin Damien Williams.
Williams, by the way, had a monster game too. He went for 104 yards on the ground, including the 38-yard rushing touchdown that salted the game away late.
That capped a 21-point explosion for the Chiefs, who scored three touchdowns in five minutes with the game on the line.
The first 30 minutes had the feel of table-setting, not main-coursing.
Neither team wanted to take many risks.
The biggest play was a quarterback blunder (Jimmy Garoppolo’s are-you-kidding-me, up-for-grabs interception thrown to Bashaud Breeland).
And the second-biggest play never happened, thanks to an overzealous officiating decision.
George Kittle pulled in a 42-yard bomb on the half’s penultimate play, but it was wiped out by an offensive pass interference call that, at the very least, should have been reviewed. It was not, and so the teams went to the break tied.
(The NFL, aware of the budding controversy about the call, try to nip it quickly. Al Riveron, head of officiating, took to Twitter at halftime, showed a replay clip of the play, and wrote, “The receiver extends his arm and creates separation while the ball is in the air, therefore it is offensive pass interference.”)
For Kyle Shanahan, it was more Super Bowl heartbreak. Three years after he, as the offensive coordinator of the Falcons, blew a 25-point to the Patriots, he lost another one late.
“It hurts everybody,” Shanahan said. “We had opportunities to win and we came up short.”
It should be said: The 49ers defense was as good as advertised for all but the game’s final six minutes
Defensive end Joey Bosa terrorized Chiefs tackle Eric Fisher time and again, and the Niners’ pass rush forced Mahomes into an uncharacteristically awful interception. He simply didn’t see Fred Warner on the Chiefs’ first drive of the third quarter. Six plays later, the Niners were in the end zone and up 10 points, courtesy of a 1-yard run by ex-Dolphin Raheem Mostert.
Garoppolo’s stats in the third quarter? Eight of nine passing for 94 yards.
But that didn’t last late. There was only room for one hero at quarterback Sunday.
His name was Patrick Mahomes.
This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 10:12 PM.
