By MARK LORENZANA
The Kansas City Chiefs won their third Super Bowl title on Sunday, Feb. 12, beating the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, in a hotly contested game that saw Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes make three touchdown passes — two in the fourth quarter — and shrug off a tweaked right ankle.
It was a great performance as well for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts — who heard MVP chants from the home crowd — but in the end, Philadelphia couldn’t hold on to a 10-point lead that it enjoyed at halftime.
Kansas City won the coin toss, but deferred possession to the Eagles, who scored on an opening-drive touchdown. The Chiefs, though, would score with a touchdown drive of their own. But on the next Kansas City possession, kicker Harrison Butker missed a field goal, which was made worse by another touchdown by the Eagles — Hurts hitting wide receiver A. J. Brown with a beautiful 45-yard pass.
Hurts would fumble the ball, however, with Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton recovering it and returning 36 yards for a touchdown. Bolton had a total of nine tackles in the game.
The injury scare to Mahomes happened when he was tackled close to the end of the second quarter. He fell and twisted his right ankle, the same ankle that he suffered a sprain on in the AFC playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mahomes had been nursing the ankle and appeared to have aggravated his injury on the play, as he stayed down on the field for several minutes. He finally got up and limped off, with a pained look on his face.
Mahomes would come back strong in the second half, however, as the Chiefs chipped away at the Eagles’ lead. Mahomes started the fourth quarter with a 14-yard pass to wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Kansas City picked up an extra five yards with an offside penalty against Philadelphia defensive end Josh Sweat. Smith-Schuster completed two passes from his quarterback, 13 and three yards, respectively, and Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon rushed to the left for a four-yard gain, putting the ball spot on the Philadelphia five-yard line. Kansas City finally tied the game on the next play, with a five-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to wide receiver Kadarius Toney, and Butker’s succeeding point gave Kansas City its first lead.
Philadelphia wouldn’t go down quietly, however, as it tied the game at 35 with 5:15 remaining in the game. The Chiefs would have the last laugh, though, as they went on a clock-burning drive and a subsequent 26-yard scramble by Mahomes that eventually led to the the game-winning field goal by Butker. Mahomes completed 21 of his 27 passes for 182 yards passing. Tight end Travis Kelce caught six passes from Mahomes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
In the end, experience played a major role in the Chiefs winning Super Bowl LVII, despite the Eagles being the slight favorites going into the game, owing to their easier path in the NFC playoffs — they made quick work of their opponents. Philadelphia was also the best team in the regular season. That didn’t matter: Both Mahomes and Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, after all, were already Super Bowl champs heading into Sunday’s game. And their poise showed in the tightly contested game.
Mahomes also received his second finals MVP award to cap off the win.
It was also a great quarterback face-off, as the 24-year-old Hurts — especially in the first half — was clearly dominating the historic duel with Mahomes, 27, incidentally the youngest pair of quarterbacks to meet in a Super Bowl.
Indeed, despite the loss, Hurts came through with a colossal performance, in which he tied the record for three career touchdowns for a quarterback in a Super Bowl, and had the best rushing yards (70) for a player at his position.
Mahomes and the Chiefs, though, are Super Bowl LVII champions.
“At the break, we all said we had to improve our game,” said Mahomes. “The defense worked their butt off in the second half. Our attack found a way. I want to thank the whole team. We fought.”