On reinjured ankle, Patrick Mahomes leads Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl LVII victory
The Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Kansas CIty Chiefs through three quarters of play in Super Bowl LVII.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, a football game is four quarters long ... and the Chiefs’ offense woke up after sputtering through so much of the game.
The Chiefs posted 17 points in the final period behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ two touchdown passes. Harrison Butker’s right leg took care of the rest when he drilled a 27-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a 38-35 advantage with 8 seconds left. It proved to be the game-winner.
“It hasn’t even sunk in yet,” Mahomes said. “To be down to a team like that and come back and win the game, I wish I’d make it easier and not be down, but I play better when we are down.”
The turnaround, which saw the Chiefs down by 10 points after two quarters of play, started in the locker room at halftime.
“It was just a matter of straightening out a couple of things,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “The guys always believed. They never don’t believe.”
Mahomes agreed.
“I thought guys embraced the moment,” he said. “That first half, we were doing some good stuff but I thought guys were getting consumed by everything around us and not just going out there and playing and enjoying this game that we’ve played since we were little kids.
“Guys talked in the locker room and we just said, ‘Just leave it all out there. Let’s leave it out there for 30 minutes and see what happens at the end of the day.’ And I thought guys did that.”
All night long, the game provided plenty of drama in the Arizona desert.
Kansas City didn’t take its first lead until early in the fourth quarter when wide receiver Kadarius Toney announced his presence in the game. It was the first time in the playoffs that the Chiefs had trailed.
Facing a third-and-3 situation at the Eagles’ 5-yard line, Toney lined up wide right on the line of scrimmage and then went in motion. At the snap of the ball, Toney stopped and cut back across the grain with no defender near him. Mahomes threw him his easiest completion of the game for a 5-yard touchdown, giving the Chiefs a 28-27 lead.
Toney would then produce a gem of a return, taking a punt 65 yards to put the Chiefs in scoring position at the Eagles’ 5-yard line. Two plays later, Mahomes found rookie wide receiver Skyy Moore for a 4-yard touchdown, Moore’s first as a professional, and a 35-27 lead.
The Eagles quickly responded. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, spectacular all game long, led his team down the field on an eight-play, 75-yard drive. Hurts put the Eagles in scoring position with a 45-yard strike to DaVonta Smith, who went out of bounds at the Chiefs’ 2-yard line. Hurts finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, and then converted a 2-point conversion on the run to tie the game at 35-35.
That set up Mahomes’ magic.
With 5:15 remaining in the game, Mahomes calmly led the Chiefs into scoring position, connecting with wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 10-yard gain and tight end Travis Kelce for a 7-yard gain.
Mahomes’ running put the Chiefs in position to win after he scrambled for a 26-yard gain up the middle to the Eagles’ 17-yard line. A defensive holding penalty on Philly gave the Chiefs a first down with less than 2 minutes remaining to set up Butker’s kick.
Mahomes didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he completed an efficient 21 of 27 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns for a 131.8 passer rating. He added 44 yards rushing on six carries en route to being named the MVP of Super Bowl LVII, the second of his career.
Sunday showcased two of the NFL’s top offenses and it didn’t take long for the Chiefs and Eagles to remind everyone why they finished the regular season ranked as the No. 1 and No. 3 offenses, respectively, in the league.
“I felt like these were the two best teams,” Reid said. “My hat goes off to Philadelphia, Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman for what they’ve done with that program. And their head coach (Nick Sirianni) is a legit guy. He’s great for the National Football League.”
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and cut through the Chiefs’ defense with a methodical 11-play, 75-yard drive. Hurts and wide receiver DeVonta Smith connected three times on the drive for 41 yards, and Hurts’ 1-yard quarterback sneak gave the Eagles a short-lived 7-0 lead.
The Chiefs responded in kind, rolling over the vaunted Eagles defense with a rapid-strike six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Mahomes finished the possession with an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce, who got behind Eagles safety Marcus Epps with a slick double move.
Epps slipped on the first cut, and Mahomes threw a gorgeous pass over Kelce’s left shoulder to tie the game at 7-7. Rookie running back Isiah Pacheco contributed three carries for 29 yards, including a bruising 24-yard run, during the drive.
Kansas City took over after a stalled Eagles drive and embarked on a promising drive of its own, but Butker missed a 42-yard field goal that would’ve given the Chiefs a 10-7 lead.
Hurts and the Eagles’ offense made the Chiefs pay for the missed field goal. Philadelphia had good field position. The Eagles needed just six plays to get in the end zone, as Hurts threw a 45-yard pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown. Brown beat rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie on the play to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead.
The Chiefs’ offense sputtered on their next possession, going three-and-out. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton injected some life, though, scooping up a Hurts fumble and returning it 36 yards for a touchdown to tie the game once again at 14-14.
The Eagles closed out the first half with a 10-point scoring burst. Hurts shredded the Chiefs on the Eagles’ fifth possession, breaking through the defensive line with a 28-yard gain on a fourth-and-5 play. That put the Eagles at the Chiefs’ 16-yard line.
Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi was flagged for a neutral zone infraction with the Eagles facing a fourth-and-2 at the 8, giving the Eagles a first down. Hurts then punched it in on the next play from 4 yards out to push Philadelphia’s lead to 21-14.
Eagles kicker Jake Elliott’s 35-yard field goal provided Philadelphia a 24-14 halftime advantage.
The first half was about Hurts, who gave the Chiefs fits with 246 total yards (63 rushing) and three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing). He finished the game throwing for 300 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. He’s the first quarterback to rush for three TDs in a Super Bowl.
Mahomes finished the first half 8 of 13 for 89 yards, adding 11 yards on two carries before turning things around in the second half. The Chiefs’ signal-caller also didn’t want his team’s win to completely overshadow Hurts’ performance.
“If there were any doubters left, there shouldn’t be now,” Mahomes said of Hurts. “The way he stepped up on this stage, and ran, threw the ball, whatever it took for his team to win, I mean, that was a special performance. I don’t want it to get lost in the loss they had.”
Sunday’s victory gave the Chiefs their second Super Bowl championship in the past four seasons. They beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in February 2020 before losing the next season to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV two years ago.
“I’m grateful, man,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said of securing a second championship. “I’m so grateful.”
Here’s what else stood out on Super Sunday:
PROTECTION STEPS UP
The Eagles finished the regular season with a league-high 70 sacks, presenting a formidable task for the Chiefs’ offensive line.
Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Andrew Wylie made sure Philadelphia’s defensive front wouldn’t take over the game.
In fact, the Eagles’ pass rush was essentially a nonfactor.
“I felt like this was going to be a big-boy game, where both your lines are going to have to step up and play well,” Reid said. “And they did on both sides. That D-line battled like crazy and that O-line battled like crazy. Everything wasn’t smooth, but they kept going against a very good football team that has good lines.”
Mahomes wasn’t sacked in the game.
INJURIES
None of note.
INACTIVES
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, quarterback Shane Buechele, tight end Blake Bell, center/guard Austin Reiter, rookie offensive lineman Darian Kinnard, defensive lineman Malik Herring and defensive end Joshua Kaindoh.
UP NEXT
The Chiefs transition now to draft preparation, starting with the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis at the end of February. There are also business matters ahead with the start of the NFL’s new calendar year on March 15.
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 9:28 PM.
