The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII 25-22 in overtime to win their fourth Lombardi Trophy and their third Super Bowl in the last four years. The Chiefs have cemented their status as their eras new NFL dynasty. Andy Reid is now in the conversation of all-time great NFL head coaches, and Patrick Mahomes was sensational once again late in the game to cement his status as one of the greatest QBs in NFL history-after only six seasons as a starter. The game came down to great finish and that is all you can ask for in a Super Bowl. I was rooting hard for the 49ers, but the Chiefs and Mahomes broke their hearts for the second time in five years on the biggest stage. Here are my thoughts and reactions to the game....
1) The 49ers defense dominated the Chiefs for the first three quarters. They forced a fumble, punts, pressured Mahomes and picked him off early in the third quarter. It was 10-3 at halftime and 10-6 midway through the third quarter and it felt like it should have been 20-3 or 24-3. That's how dominate they were playing.
2) It felt like the Chiefs were melting down the first three quarters. Mahomes was being pressured, receivers weren't getting open and there was constant bickering on the sidelines with members of the Chiefs. At one point, there was a shot of Travis Kelce bumping Andy Reid on the sideline. It felt like they were self destructing.
3) The biggest turning point in the game was when the Niners were up 10-6 in the third quarter and the ball hit a Niners player and then the returner Ray-Ray McCloud dove to recover it but missed it and the Chiefs recovered the fumble deep in Niners territory. The next play, Mahomes threw a TD pass and all of a sudden it was 13-10. Right there, you knew the Niners were in trouble.
4) The next turning point was when the Niners answered right back with a Brock Purdy to Jawan Jennings TD pass to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter, but KC blocked the extra point to make the score 16-13 SF instead of 17-13. That one point played a pivotal role down the stretch.
5) The game was kind of average for most of the three quarters but it ended in a flurry. The last five possessions of the game not including San Franc taking a knee were: Touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal, field goal. The game went from 10-6 with 2:42 to go in the third quarter to 19-19 heading to overtime.
6) In overtime, the Niners took the ball first under the new postseason rules and had to settle for a field goal after driving down to the KC 9 yard line. Purdy got rushed on a blitz and forced an early throw and the field goal made it 22-19. You just knew that Mahomes and the Chiefs were going to come down and win the game on the next drive. Everyone in America knew it was coming.
7) Of course, Mahomes goes right down the field 75 yards in 13 plays and hits Mecole Hardman for a three yard TD pass to win the Super Bowl. Give Mahomes credit because in a game that he struggled for the most of it, he came up big on the biggest drive of the season. He didn't have an incompletion on the final drive and ran for two big first downs-including a 4th and 1. Classic Mahomes on that drive and it is what makes him great.
8) There has been a lot of discussion about Kyle Shanahan taking the ball first in overtime with the new rules. I didn't have that much of a problem with it at the time. I thought he was resting his defense, but it retrospect, I think in the future the team that wins the toss should defer and get the ball second. I'm not going to kill Shanahan on this one.
9) For the Niners, it is another missed opportunity for them to win a championship. When they look back at this game, they are going to be sick that they couldn't put the game away after having a lead for most of the 60 minutes. Kyle Shanahan is a really good coach, and GM John Lynch has built a stud team but they just can't get that Lombardi Trophy-mainly because of Pat Mahomes.
10) This Chiefs team was the most vulnerable of all the Mahomes era teams and they still won the Super Bowl. Their offense struggled all season, their receivers were inconsistent. Mahomes had his worst season in six years statistically. They only scored over 30 points three times. Their defense was really good all year, but it just wasn't a vintage Chiefs team that finished 11-6. They went 4-4 at home this year. They went 4-2 in the division and lost to Denver and the Raiders. They were scraping to clinch to the division in Week 17 at home against Jake Browning and the Bengals. They were underdogs on the road in the Divisional Round against Buffalo and in the AFC Championship Game against the Ravens and won both games. They were underdogs in the Super Bowl and beat the Niners. This was the year to get the Chiefs and it still didn't matter.
10) The Chiefs are the toast of the NFL that is all there is to it. They were such a non-descript franchise for like 50 years. All they would hang their hat on was the fact that they were an original AFL franchise and played in the first Super Bowl. They also won the last Super Bowl before the merger and played at Arrowhead Stadium-which was a great homefield advantage. That was it. They were always competitive but lost a lot of playoff games-especially at home. They went from 1993 to 2015 without winning a playoff game. With the exception of 1993 and 1994 when Joe Montana finished his career there, they never had a big name QB. That all changed when they drafted Mahomes. They have made the AFC Championship Game six times in a row, been to four Super Bowls in the past six years, and won three-including back-to-back titles. Mahomes really just transformed this franchise, and now you have him and Travis Kelce and the whole Taylor Swift relationship and the Chiefs are the kings of the NFL world. I hate to see it, but it is the truth.
11) Patrick Mahomes is right now the second greatest QB of all time and he only trails Tom Brady in that category and at 28, he has a chance to surpass Brady's 7 Super Bowl wins. Mahomes has one of the best starts ever to a career in any sport. He is approaching the Jordan level of sports figures. Of all the things that stands out about Mahomes, the part that gets me is that in his three Super Bowl wins, he was trailing by 10 points each time, and each time he brought his team back to win. In all three of those games, it looked like his team was done, and each time he played great down the stretch to win the game. It is unbelievable what he is doing right now.
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