Rob Issa, FISM News
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Patrick Mahomes battled through an ankle injury and led the Kansas City Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory.
Mahomes threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and scampered 26 yards on the final drive to set up Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal that gave the Chiefs a 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl on Sunday night.
Jalen Hurts was outstanding in a record-setting performance, but Mahomes rallied the Chiefs back from a 10-point halftime deficit and earned his second Super Bowl MVP award.
“It hasn’t even sunk in I don’t even think yet,” Mahomes said. “I mean, I appreciate it. I appreciate it because of the failures. I mean the failure of losing a Super Bowl and losing the AFC championship game gives you a greater appreciation to be standing here as a champion. Luckily, I’m going to Disneyland now, so I have Disney World and Disneyland crossed off and they will have to make some more parks so I can go around everywhere and do a world tour.”
Mahomes had 182 yards passing and the Chiefs got major contributions on defense and special teams.
One of the biggest plays of the game came when Nick Bolton picked up a Hurts’ fumble and ran it back 36 yards for a score to tie the game at 14-14 in the first half.
Kardarius Toney’s 65-yard punt return was the longest in Super Bowl history and set up a 4-yard TD pass to Skyy Moore that gave the Chiefs a 35-27 lead.
Hurts brought Philadelphia back to tie things up late in the game. He threw a 45-yard pass to DeVonta Smith to the 2 before running it in himself. He ran the 2-point conversion in to tie it at 35 before Mahomes once again did his magic.
“Toughest son of a gun you ever met man. That Texas gunslinger ain’t going to let nothing get in the way,” Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce said.
Kelce caught a touchdown pass and beat his brother, Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce, in the first matchup between brothers in a Super Bowl.
“I’m just happy for him, you know, congratulations,” Jason Kelce said. “It’s hard to get here. I haven’t quite let the emotion get to me yet. I’m sure we’ll have a more emotional interaction. Really, really happy for Trav. He played his ass off. That team deserves everything they had coming to them. They’ve earned it. I’ve got a lot of respect for everybody in that organization. There’s a lot of people in that organization that gave me my start in this league, including the head coach Andy Reid, so obviously would’ve liked to win but I’m happy for Trav for sure.”
Reid earned his second championship ring with Mahomes and the Chiefs after failing to win one during 14 seasons in Philadelphia. The 64-year-old Reid immediately squashed any retirement speculation, saying he wants to return to coach.
“For him going up against his old team, we wanted to get this so bad for him,” Travis Kelce said. “His legacy in Philadelphia will live on forever. I know that city loves him, I know that organization loves him. Ever since he’s been here in Kansas City, I’ve seen it firsthand; he’s poured his heart, his mind, and his soul into this organization and into this team and lead a group of men. You can call it what you want, that didn’t happen in Philly. That happened right in here in Kansas City. There’s a lot of pride in knowing he’s had success in two different organizations, but this is the better one.”
Hurts finished with 304 yards passing yards and one touchdown. He tied a Super Bowl record with three rushing TDs and also set a Super Bowl record for most yards rushing by a QB with 70.
“It’s tough. We work really hard to have this opportunity and to come up short is tough,” Hurts said. “There’s always a lot to learn from, the opportunity to reflect on things we didn’t do or could have done, but I think there’s a lot to learn from it.”