GLENDALE, Ariz. Patrick Mahomes was ethereal when the Kansas City Chiefs desperately needed him to lead them to another Super Bowl victory.

On an injured ankle, Mahomes threw two touchdown passes and scrambled 26 yards on the game-winning drive before Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give the Chiefs a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

The Chiefs won their second NFL championship in four years, and two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time.

“I just thought guys just embraced the moment,” Mahomes said of the team’s comeback from a 10-point halftime deficit. “We played and did some good things in the first half, but I felt like the guys were getting consumed by everything around us.”

Chiefs Win The Super Bowl

Mahomes and Jalen Hurt shone in the first Super Bowl featuring two Black starting quarterbacks. However, Mahomes turned it up in the second half after aggravating a sprained right ankle.

“It took everyone to win the game,” Mahomes exclaimed as red and yellow confetti rained down on the field.

Andy Reid, unable to win the big game in Philadelphia, defeated his former team to earn his second ring with Mahomes and the Chiefs.

“We wanted this for him,” Travis Kelce said. “His legacy in Philadelphia will live on forever… There’s a lot of pride in knowing he’s succeeded in two organizations, but this was the better one.”

With the score tied at 35-35, the Eagles attempted to allow the Chiefs to score a touchdown with less than two minutes remaining to regain possession after a defensive holding call on cornerback James Bradberry on third-and-8 gave Kansas City a first down. However, Jerick McKinnon slipped at the 2, forcing the Eagles to call their final timeout.

“It was still holding. I yanked on his jersey. “I was hoping they’d let it go,” Bradberry explained.

Butker nailed his kick after Mahomes took two knees, sending thousands of red-clad Chiefs fans into a frenzy.

“It feels amazing just to see the confetti,” Butker said after missing a 42-yard field goal in the first quarter. “I just tried to concentrate on one kick and the process.”

Chiefs Won 50 Years After Their First Win

Following the 2019 season, the Chiefs won their second Super Bowl, 50 years after the first. In that game, Mahomes led them back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter against San Francisco. It only took three years to secure another Lombardi.

The Chiefs fans outnumbered the Philadelphia fans in the stadium, but they did their part to quiet them down with the tomahawk chop chant.

With Mahomes limping and the Chiefs (17-3) trailing 24-14, Rihanna’s electrifying halftime performance was followed by a sensational offensive outburst.

Mahomes, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the divisional round, injured it again late in the second quarter on a 3-yard scramble. He hobbled off the field but had no negative impact on Kansas City’s next possession.

“I knew it was pretty bad when he got up limping, but I knew it wasn’t going to be bad enough for him to pull himself off the field,” said Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. “If we had yanked him off, I would have had to fight him. He’d most likely fought me. As a result, it wasn’t entertaining.”

Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles rushes for a first down (AP Photo/Ashley Landis).

Several Players Lost Their Footing

Mahomes slipped in the pocket — several players lost their footing on the natural grass surface — but regained his balance and scrambled 14 yards to the Eagles 4, setting up Isiah Pacheco’s 1-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 24-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mahomes threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Kadarius Toney, giving Kansas City its first lead, 28-27.

Toney returned a line-drive kick 65 yards to the Eagles 5 after the Chiefs tightened their defense, forcing Philly to punt. It was the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.

Mahomes connected with Skyy Moore on third down from the 4, extending their lead to 35-27. Moore was also completely open on the play.

But the Eagles refused to go away.

“Fly Eagles Fly”

Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for a 45-yard gain to the Chiefs 2 before running in for his third touchdown. With 5:15 remaining, he also ran in for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 35-35.

Mahomes and the Chiefs returned to work as “Fly! Eagles! Fly!” chants echoed throughout the stadium.

Mahomes, 27, became the third player in NFL history to win his second MVP award before 28. He was also the youngest quarterback to start three Super Bowls. Mahomes finally broke the MVP curse, becoming the first player in nine years to win the Super Bowl in the same season.

Only five years after winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl, the Eagles (16-4) came close with a new coach and quarterback. In 2021, Nick Sirianni took over for Doug Pederson, and Hurts took over for Carson Wentz in late 2020.

Hurts set a Super Bowl record with 70 yards rushing and tied another with three touchdowns on the ground. He also passed for 304 yards and one touchdown.

“We use this pain, this failure, to motivate us so that we can turn it into a strength,” Sirianni explained.

Hurts, who missed two games late in the season due to a shoulder injury, scored on 1-yard and 4-yard runs in the first half and a 45-yard TD pass to A.J. Brown.

The First Super Bowl Between Two No. 1 Seeds

On the other hand, Hurts made a rare error when he fumbled while scrambling away from pressure. Nick Bolton scooped it up and raced 36 yards for a 14-14 tie. Hurts only had eight turnovers this season, six interceptions and two fumbles.

Mahomes finished 21 of 27 for 182 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He gained 44 yards on the ground.

In the first quarter, Mahomes connected with Kelce on an 18-yard TD pass in the right corner to tie the game at 7-7. The Chiefs’ All-Pro tight end and Eagles’ All-Pro center Jason Kelce became the first brothers to face off in a Super Bowl.

Their mother, Donna Kelce, wore a half-red, half-green jersey with Travis’ number 87 on the front and Jason’s number 62 on the back. She was seated in the same suite as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Damar Hamlin.

After each score, Eagles fans turned State Farm Stadium into a sea of green, chanting “E-A-G-L-E-S!” and singing the team’s fight song. They were, however, let down.

During his 14 seasons with the Eagles, Reid won more games than any other coach in team history, but the one knock against him was that he couldn’t win the Super Bowl. Reid received his ring during his seventh season with the Chiefs. They returned the following year and were defeated by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Reid, who turns 65 next month, has ended any speculation about his retirement.

“If they want me, I’ll stay,” he explained.

The first Super Bowl between two No. 1 seeds since the Eagles defeated the Patriots 41-33 in February 2018 lived up to expectations. The Eagles scored the most points by a losing team in the third-highest-scoring Super Bowl.

SOURCE – (AP)