The KC Chiefs are world champions again. Remembering this Super Bowl, by quarters
The Kansas City Chiefs played in the Super Bowl for the first time in 50 years at Hard Rock Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.
The stands were a sea of red(s) Sunday night, but the edge in attendance seemed to belong to fans of the Chiefs. They were certainly louder than the Niners faithful during a “who’s loudest” contest shortly before kickoff.
Demi Lovato sang the national anthem (concluded by the loudest “... home of the CHIIIIIEEEFFSSS” you’ll ever hear in your life, and then it was time to play some championship football.
First quarter: 7-3 Chiefs
Key plays: Patrick Mahomes on the run. He brought the Chiefs to within spitting distance of the goal line, then pranced in a moment later for a 1-yard touchdown: the Chiefs’ first in a Super Bowl in half a century.
The story: San Francisco won the opening coin toss and elected to defend, leaving the Chiefs to receive and defend the west end zone. They opened with a nice run to the right by Damien Williams but proceeded to go three-and-out.
The 49ers took Dustin Colquitt’s punt deep in their own territory but were methodical in the drive that followed, including a 32-yard run to the right by Deebo Samuel that required a touchdown-saving tackle by Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu.
The Chiefs limited the Niners to a 38-yard field goal by Robbie Gould, and trailed 3-0 — perhaps not so worrisome considering they’d found themselves down by 24 points against the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round game and by 10 to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game.
The Niners held the ball for 7 minutes, 26 seconds on their scoring drive.
And then the Chiefs went to work. They took the kickoff 62 yards in 10 plays, a drive that consumed 5 minutes, 58 seconds and ended with Mahomes’ 1-yard run for a touchdown.
Mahomes became the first QB to score a rushing TD in a Super Bowl since Colin Kaepernick in SB XLVII, per NFL Research.
That’s where the first quarter ended, the Chiefs ahead 7-3 after Harrison Butker’s extra point. For the Chiefs, it was a clear improvement over the scores after one quarter in their first two playoff games of this postseason, when they trailed the Texans 21-0 and Titans 10-7.
Second quarter: 10-10
Key plays: Bashaud Breeland’s interception for the Chiefs near the Chiefs’ sideline on a San Francisco second-and-12. And for San Francisco, fullback Kyle Juszczyk’s 15-yard TD catch from Jimmy Garoppolo.
The story: The Niners started the second quarter with the ball, but Chiefs cornerback Breeland picked off Garoppolo on second down, and KC was in business again.
The Chiefs followed with a nine-play, 43-yard drive capped by a 38-yard field goal by Butker. The drive consumed 4 minutes, 36 seconds and KC led 10-3.
Garoppolo was better on the 49ers’ next drive. So was the vaunted San Francisco rushing attack. The Niners had the Chiefs on their heels during a methodical 80-yard march capped by the touchdown pass from Garoppolo to Juszczyk that made it 10-10.
Time of possession on San Francisco’s seven-play possession: 4:27.
At the two-minute warning, the Chiefs faced second-and-8 at San Francisco’s 46, and their drive ended in a Colquitt punt that Byron Pringle nearly downed near the goal line. Instead, it was a touchback and Garoppolo and Co. took over at the 49ers’ 20 with 59 seconds until intermission.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan seemed content to go into the locker room deadlocked at 10, sitting on his timeouts. But Chiefs coach Andy Reid used one with 20 seconds left in the first half.
San Francisco converted the first down on a pass from Garoppolo to running back Jeff Wilson Jr., and the Chiefs looked to be in trouble when Garoppolo followed with a long arcing throw to tight end George Kittle down the KC sideline. But officials flagged Kittle for offensive pass interference.
San Francisco took a knee after the penalty and that was the end of the first half.
Third quarter: 20-10 49ers
Key play: Pick one by Garoppolo. He was 17 of 20 for 183 yards and one TD and one interception through three periods of play, hanging well statistically with Mahomes to this point in the game (Mahomes: 16 of 25 for 145 yards and an interception).
The story: Niners defense. After Jennifer Lopez and Shakira wowed the crowd of 62,417 with an entertaining halftime show, San Francisco put on a display of its own.
Gould kicked a 42-yard field goal to complete San Francisco’s nine-play, 60-yard drive in 5:31 and give the Niners their second lead of the game at 13-10. And then things unraveled for KC.
The Chiefs took the ensuing kickoff looking to counter. But after a Nick Bosa sack of Mahomes and a fumble that the Chiefs were fortunate to recover, KC’s quarterback threw an interception into the chest of Niners linebacker Fred Warner. Bosa’s ceaseless night-long pressure had finally helped force a Chiefs turnover.
On third-and-8 from the Chiefs’ 37, Garoppolo stepped into a nice pass for a long gain in the flat to wide receiver Kendrick Burne. A completion to Juszczyk brought the 49ers to the Chiefs’ 1, and Raheem Mostert plunged in for the short touchdown on the next play.
It had quickly become 20-10 San Francisco. The 49ers’ six-play, 55-yard drive took just 2:48.
Suddenly the Chiefs were having to claw for anything and everything they could get. The third quarter came to a close with the Chiefs picking up a first down on a direct snap to tight end Travis Kelce and his 2-yard gain.
They had the ball at their own 46 to start the final quarter of Super Bowl LIV.
Fourth quarter: 31-20 Chiefs
Key play: Remember when we said to pick one of Garoppolo’s plays in the third quarter? Do the same for Mahomes in this one. He completed passes of 38 and 44 yards to help the Chiefs to two final-period touchdowns and a regained lead.
The story: Mahomes’ second career postseason pick came early in the fourth quarter of his first Super Bowl. He’d entered this game with 11 playoff touchdowns and zero interceptions in the postseason. (For what it’s worth, it was Mahomes’ 36th NFL start and just the fourth time he’d had a multiple-interception outing.)
The 2019 league MVP had a career-low passer rating of 49.78 in Sunday’s game as the Chiefs dug in for their second drive of the final period of their first Super Bowl in five decades. They still had confidence that Sunday’s misfires were a collective aberration — it was the first time in 440 days that Mahomes had thrown more than one pick in a game.
Starting at their own 17-yard line, the Chiefs put together a nice drive highlighted by a 44-yard completion on the run from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill on third and long. San Francisco’s Tarvarius Moore was flagged for pass interference in the end zone on a throw intended for Kelce, setting up the Chiefs at the Niners’ 1, and Mahomes found Kelce on the next play for a 1-yard touchdown completion.
The crowd was awake again, the Chiefs down just three after their 10-play, 83-yard drive in a mere 2:43. With 6:13 remaining in the game, it was time for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense to show what it was made of.
They did, stopping the Niners and forcing a punt.
Mahomes then hit Sammy Watkins and Hill for long passes that put the latter over 100 yards receiving on eight catches. Watkins, who caught a perfect spiral in stride down the right sideline for a 38-yard gain, was now at 98 yards on five receptions.
On third and goal from the 5, Mahomes put the Chiefs ahead 24-20 with less than 3 minutes via a touchdown toss to Damien Williams that was upheld on review.
The Chiefs came up with yet another defensive stop, and Williams put the icing on the cake with a touchdown run down the left sideline.
Ballgame. The Chiefs overcame double-digit deficits to win all three of their postseason games en route to their first world championship in half a century.
This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 6:25 PM.