Kansas City Chiefs wins Super Bowl LVII as Patrick Mahomes inspires comeback

The Kansas City Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in four years with Patrick Mahomes overcoming injury and a 10-point deficit to see off the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in a game for the ages.

In a breathless Super Bowl, the third-highest scoring of all time, Super Bowl MVP Mahomes overcame a knock to his right ankle immediately before half-time.

Chiefs head coach Reid is now 2-2 in Super Bowls, while speculation swirls about his future.

The 64-year-old has been in charge at Kansas City since 2012 after spending 12 years with the Eagles and extended his record to 7-0 in this fixture – he is 3-0 with the Eagles and now 4-0 with the Chiefs.

For Mahomes, the win will open the door to comparisons with the greatest to have ever played the game. He finished 21-of-27 passing for 182 yards with three touchdowns as earned his second ring after the chastening defeat against Tampa Bay Buccaneers two years ago.

The Eagles more than played their part in another classic. Five years ago they beat the New England Patriots 41-33 but here many will feel hard done by. No more than quarterback Jalen Hurts, who was simply magnificent.

Hurts ran for three touchdowns and threw for another, went 27 of 38 with 304 passing yards and 70 rushing – the record for a quarterback in a Super Bowl.

They have been bold and brave all season and Philadelphia’s opening drive was a thing of precision and beauty. As a statement of intent it was brutal. They went 75 yards in 11 plays, with the final four on the ground. Kenny Gainwell’s touchdown run was overturned on review, Hurts punched it in with a quarterback sneak.

It was the longest opening touchdown drive in the Super Bowl since Tom Brady’s New England Patriots against the New York Giants in this stadium 15 years ago.

The noise among the overwhelmingly Eagles-filled stadium ratcheted up a notch. But perhaps they had forgotten how well Reid can script opening drives.

Mahomes orchestrated a six-play, 75-yard drive in three minutes, 12 seconds. The two-time MVP showed no sign of injury, scrambling for eight yards – and then the Chiefs were buoyed by a bruising 24-yard gain on the ground from running back Isiah Pacheco.

Now on Philadelphia’s 18, Kelce lined up on the right. He beat safety CJ Gardner-Johnson on the line of scrimmage and created separation against an isolated Marcus Epps. Mahomes did the rest, finding his favorite target from 18 yards by tossing into the corner.

It was Kelce’s 16th career postseason receiving touchdown, putting him past Rob Gronkowski for the second-most in NFL history. Only the great Jerry Rice has more.

The Eagles were stymied on a three and out, but Mahomes appeared to pick up where he left off. Yet the drive stalled deep in Eagles territory and kicker Harrison Butker hit the left upright with a 42-yard field goal attempt.

It was a bad break, but after the Eagles appeared to be stymied on the ground again, worse was to follow. An offside penalty on third down by Chris Jones kept the drive alive at the end of the first quarter.

If the first quarter ended with a whimper, the second quarter began with a bang. On first and 10, Hurts tossed the ball up for AJ Brown, who twisted round rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie and safety Juan Thornhill to pull in a highlight reel, 45-yard touchdown catch.

The Eagles traded the No 18 and No 101 overall picks in the 2022 draft to the Tennessee Titans for Brown to add a deep threat. The trade looks more inspired by the day.

Despite the Chiefs sputtering on offense again, the game swung in their favour.

With the Eagles set to punch in a first down with their signature move – a quarterback sneak on third and one – fate took a hand. A false start from Isaac Seuamlo took them back to third and six and an inexplicable Hurts fumble was gratefully picked up by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton for a scoop and score.

On such moments can championships be won and lost. But not if you are made of sterner stuff.

The Eagles have been the NFC’s most dominant team by being brave and going for it. So they dialled up Hurts’ number and he delivered, just as he has done all season. After a 14-yard dash, they kept the drive alive by back-to-back fourth downs – the last a 28-yard gain from Hurts.

Thanks to domination from his offensive line, Hurts walked in for a four-yard touchdown – his second of the afternoon – to put Philadelphia up 21-14.

If Hurts bounced back from adversity, Mahomes was about to have his share.

After being rattled by Reddick, the next play Mahomes recovered a fumble and ran for a decent gain. But after he was crunched by TJ Edwards an uneasy hush filled the stadium. He limped off, was shown grimacing on the sideline and backup Chad Henne began to warm up.

Further incident came in the shape of an overturned catch from DeVonta Smith – the Eagles fans made their feelings known about that one – but Philadelphia made it a ten-point game after Jake Elliott’s 35-yarder before Rihanna transfixed the stadium.

Who knows what was said at half-time. But when the Chiefs emerged, all eyes were on Mahomes’ right ankle.

When the teams met last season, the Chiefs ran for a combined 200 yards in a 42-30 win in Philadelphia.

The plan was set – handing off twice to Pacheco, the Chiefs switched to run-first. With no options, Mahomes even ran for a tidy gain before Pacheco went over from close range for 24-21.

The Eagles dodged a bullet immediately afterwards.

After what appeared a catch and fumble from Miles Sanders, Bolton conjured a second defensive touchdown. But that was overturned – replays showing Sanders never had the ball.

A magnificent catch from Goedert helped Philadelphia up the field but another another quarterback sneak from Hurts on fourth down, the Chiefs held firm, on third down, forcing Elliott to convert his second kick of the game to make it 27-21.

JuJu Smith-Schuster’s name hadn’t been called all game, but Mahomes found the wide receiver four times during another long scoring drive which ended with wizardry from Reid.

Using Kelce as a decoy, the Eagles bit big. Kadarius Toney motioned to the left, but went to the right, Mahomes found him and the Chiefs were ahead for the first time in the game.

It was his first touch of the ball – and his second came shortly afterwards, a 54-yard punt return putting the Chiefs deep in Philadelphia territory.

They used motion in the red zone again, Mahomes connecting with a wide open Skyy Moore for a four-yard score and suddenly the Chiefs were eight points up.

In the spirit of this slugging match, Hurts came out swinging again. Leaning on the tandem of Brown and Smith, the latter connected with a 45-yard pass and the Eagles were all set.

Hurts ran over for his third touchdown of the night from two yards – equalling Terrell Davis’s Super Bowl record – and added the two-pointer for good measure. It was 35-35 with a little over five minutes remaining.

The biggest ‘oooh’ of the night came from a crunching hit by Gardner-Johnson on Pacheco, but he recovered sufficiently to give the Chiefs a first down on the next play.

Mahomes scrambled like a gazelle, slicing the Eagles defense for 26 yards on the following play to put Kansas City on Philadelphia’s 17.

But Philadelphia stood up. Third and eight. As the crowd roared, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass. But a flag was thrown for holding against James Bradberry.

A new set of downs for Mahomes. Jerick McKinnon stopped two yards before the goalline as the Chiefs executed their plan to drain the clock. With 11 seconds remaining Butker entered the fray to boot home from 27 yards.

Eight seconds remained. Despite his heroics, Hurts couldn’t conjure another miracle as his hail Mary fell to the ground.

Shortly after the red and gold ticker tape rained down on Reid and Mahomes once again.