Kansas City Chiefs are repeat Super Bowl champions. Here are the grades vs. 49ers
The winner and still champion ... the Kansas City Chiefs.
They needed overtime to finish the job, but the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 on Sunday night in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium.
The Chiefs became the ninth team in NFL history to win consecutive Super Bowls, and it’s the franchise’s third title in five years. For context, it’s been nearly two decades since a team (the Patriots) last repeated.
This was was the most improbable of their championships. The Chiefs were the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs and for the first time needed to win four games — including road contests at Buffalo and Baltimore — to capture the title.
Here is the final, happy, report card of the 2023 season:
KC STAR OF THE GAME
Patrick Mahomes, who hit Mecole Hardman with a 3-yard touchdown pass for the game-winner, gets the nod. He finished with two touchdown passes and passed for 333 yards, a Super Bowl best for him. And how about this: In all four Super Bowls, the Chiefs have trailed by double digits. They came back to win three of them.
Next: The 2024 NFL schedule will be released likely in early May. The opponents are known, and the Chiefs and 49ers will meet sometime during the season in San Francisco.
REPORT CARD
Passing offense: B
Mahomes had played so well during the playoffs, and he rallied from an uneven first half to win this one, too. He recorded the longest completion in his four Super Bowls came in the second quarter, a 52-yard bomb to Hardman. But Isiah Pacheco fumbled on the next play.
The horizontal screen game, so effective in the postseason, didn’t fly. Travis Kelce’s lone first-half reception on such a play went for 1 yard.
Kelce came to play with nine receptions for 93 yards, including an 8-yard catch that set up the game-winner. Rookie Rashee Rice, the team’s top wide receiver, got into action late in the second quarter with three straight catches, but he was held in check most of the game.
The Chiefs had scored on their opening possession of eight straight postseason games until this one.
Rushing offense: C
Not there for much of the game, but it came on late.
The loss of injured Joe Thuney may have played a role, but the lanes weren’t often there for Pacheco. His fumble in the first half was a killer. The Chiefs had been mostly careful with the ball throughout the postseason, but with the 49ers on their heels after the long completion, Pacheco gave it away.
That wasn’t the only mistake involving Pacheco. On the first play of the second half, a Mahomes pitch was high and Pacheco couldn’t handle it. He recovered his own fumble but lost 12 yards.
In the end, Mahomes made magic with his legs like he did in last season’s Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. On the final drive, he picked up a big first down on fourth-and-1, and his 19-yard keeper got the Chiefs into the red zone.
Mahomes finished with 66 rushing yards. They were all big.
Passing defense: B
Tip your cap to the 49ers’ trick play for a touchdown. The pass from Jauan Jennings to Christian McCaffrey was well executed.
Brock Purdy was good enough, with a touchdown pass and no interceptions. But he couldn’t get the 49ers into the end zone on their overtime possession.
Rushing defense: A
Christian McCaffrey gained steam as the game went on and was punishing in overtime. He finished with 93 rushing yards.
Some Chiefs who haven’t played much were important in run defense Sunday. Mike Pennel finished with six tackles, one for a loss.
One of the game’s defensive highlights was a second-quarter play by Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who shed his block and dropped McCaffrey for a 4-yard loss. Anudike-Uzomah, the first round pick and former Kansas State star from Lee’s Summit, had played sparingly in the second half of the season. He was called on because of the injury to Charles Omenihu.
The Chiefs stopped the 49ers’ first possession with a fumble, forced by Leo Chanel and recovered by George Karlaftis.
Special teams A+
What a day for Dave Toub’s crew.
Alert play of the game belongs to Jaylen Watson, who fell on the muffed punt late in the third quarter. That set up a Chiefs go-ahead touchdown. The Chiefs had trouble holding on the ball throughout the game, but they also forced a pair of 49ers fumbles.
After the 49ers answered the Chiefs’ touchdown with one of their own, Leo Chanel and Mike Danna blocked the extra point to keep the San Francisco lead at just three, 16-13.
Harrison Butker now owns the longest field goal in Super Bowl history, drilling a 57-yard line drive in the third quarter, his second field goal of the game. He finished with four and his career nine Super Bowl field goals is also a record.
In all, this was the Chiefs’ best special teams day of the season.
This story was originally published February 11, 2024 at 10:02 PM.