The Kansas City Chiefs became NFL champions for the second time in four years after battling to a thrilling 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs trailed for Super Bowl 57 in Phoenix and were down 27-21 in the final quarter.
But despite limping after aggravating an ankle injury, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and veteran coach Andy Reid orchestrated a rout in front of 67,827.
Mahomes, the season was named Most Valuable Player for the second time Last week, Kadarius threw touchdown passes to Toney and Skye Moore to put Kansas City ahead for the first time.
The Eagles tied the game after Jalen Hurts’ third rushing touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion by the third-year quarterback.
But a heroic 26-yard run by Mahomes set up the field for Harrison Butker to kick the game-winning field goal from 27 yards out.
Mahomes’ performance made the 27-year-old the first player since 1999 to win the MVP, Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP in the same season.
He has led the Chiefs to at least the AFC Championship game in all five seasons as a starter, and many argued that if the Reid-Mahomes era was to be considered a dynasty, he should have won another Super Bowl.
“I’m not going to say dynasty yet, we’re not done,” Mahomes warned.
“I told you nothing was going to keep me off the field. I want to thank my teammates – we challenged each other and it took everyone.”
Reid said of Mahomes: “He wants to be the greatest player ever and that’s the way he goes about his business. And he does it with humility, no bragging.
“Great quarterbacks make everyone around him better, including the head coach. So he’s done a heck of a job.”
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce added: “I’ve got Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, I’ve got a great team, we’ve had an incredible run.
“In the beginning we were untypical [of the game] But in everyone’s eyes he leaves everything on the field and that’s what we did.”
A historic and rare Super Bowl
It was a historic and rare Super Bowl as the NFL’s showcase event came to Arizona’s state capital for the fourth time.
It was First Super Bowl to feature two black quarterbacks And the first to feature brothers on opposing teams, namely Travis Kelce and his older brother Jason, the Eagles center.
And it was rare because it featured two of the best teams and two of the best players of the season — Mahomes and Hurts.
This is the first time since 2018 that the top seed in each conference has reached the Super Bowl – The Eagles defeated the New England Patriots Their only previous Super Bowl win was 41-33.
It was the highest-scoring Super Bowl since then but perhaps edged out for the drama, showing why each team was dominant in the regular season, both finishing with 14-3 records.
Now Super Bowl 57 is best remembered ‘Kelsey Bowl’, With two teams building an epic in Arizona’s state capital.
Mahomes and Hurts trade shots in epic
It promised to be a shootout from the first quarter, as neither defense could stop their opposition as they have been doing all season.
Hurts already held the single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, and three more on Sunday extended it to 18.
The first capped the game’s opening drive, and the Chiefs answered with Mahomes finding Travis Kelce in the corner for the tight end’s career-best 16th touchdown of the season.
However, there were ominous signs for Kansas City in the second quarter, as Hurts’ 45-yard touchdown pass to AJ Brown was overturned, but Nick Bolton returned a fumble for a defensive touchdown.
The Eagles took possession off the Chiefs, Mahomes started limping heavily, Hurts punched in his second touchdown and Jake Elliott kicked a field goal to make it 24-14 at halftime.
Whatever Coach Reid, 64, told his players during Rihanna’s halftime performance, seemed to do the trick when Kansas City came out and put together a 10-play drive capped by an Isiah Pacheco score.
And they thought they’d robbed Bolton of the lead moments later with another defensive touchdown, only for the game to reverse and a Jake Elliott field goal to make it 27-21.
But two touchdowns in quick succession, both on well-designed passing plays from the Reid playbook that flummoxed the Philly defense, swung the game in Kansas City’s favor.
Hurts kept the Eagles in it but Mahomes’ scramble up the middle allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock before the decisive score with just eight seconds left.
Best Super Bowl Stats
- Reid became the 15th coach to win multiple Super Bowls
- Mahomes became the 13th quarterback to win multiple Super Bowls
- Hurts becomes first quarterback to throw for three touchdowns in Super Bowl
- Hurts also set the Super Bowl record for a QB – 70 rushing yards
- The Chiefs’ offensive line, which ranks the team with the second-most sacks in a single season in NFL history, didn’t allow Mahomes to be sacked once.
