Kansas City coach Andy Reid has one of those gaudy diamond encrusted Super Bowl rings coming his way.
Thanks to unflappable third-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a gritty defense, the Chiefs stormed back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV before a festive crowd of 62,417 fans at Hard Rock Stadium.
» MORE: Score-by-score summary
“The Chiefs run the AFC,” defensive end Frank Clark said. “The Chiefs are the best in the world.”
It was the Chiefs first title since they won Super Bowl IV in 1970.
Reid, the jovial head coach, said he was ready to celebrate with a double cheeseburger with extra cheese after the game.
It was Reid’s second appearance as a head coach on the game’s grandest stage. He’s the seventh winningest coach in league history and now has a Super Bowl title.
Reid’s players were elated for him.
“Obviously, the most important thing was winning this for coach Reid,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said.
Reid didn’t seem to care.
“I don’t care about that,” Reid said. “I really don’t. This is a pure team sport. ... That is really the last thing on my mind.”
Mahomes shook off two interceptions to lead the rally, which included a strike to wide receiver Tyreek Hill on a third-and-15 to pick up 44 yards.
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“We never give up,” Mahomes said. “I think guys around this — the leaders that we have o this team - they have that mindset that we never give up.”
Mahomes said that play lifted his spirits and let him know the Chiefs would rally.
“I knew if we could have the that accelerator for a couple of series, we’d be OK,” Reid said.
Mahomes completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 78.1.
He was outplayed by San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo for most of the game, but got hot late.
Garoppolo couldn’t lead a rally after the Chiefs took a 24-20 lead.
"I think there were some good things," San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said. "We'll be able to find out more. I thought he played all right."
Garoppolo finished by 20 of 31 for 219 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He finished with a quarterback rating of 69.2.
“It was a helluva ride,” Garoppolo said. “It’s hard to see right now, but there are some positives that will come out of this. We just didn’t make the plays when we had an opportunity to.”
Late in the third with 2:35 left, the Chiefs found themselves in a familiar situation. They were down double-digits in a playoff game, 20-10.
The Chiefs were down 24-0 early to the Texans in the divisional round and 17-7 to the Titans in the AFC championship game before storming back to victories on their way to the Super Bowl.
They didn’t have as much time against the 49ers, but still managed to rally.
On their next possession, the Chiefs moved into 49ers’ territory. On third-and-6 from the 49ers’ 23, Mahomes pass to Tyreek Hill was behind him. He tipped it up and it was intercepted by San Francisco safety Tarvarius Moore.
But the 49ers couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt.
A big pass interference call on Moore, set the Chiefs up at the 1-yard. Mahomes tossed a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce to make it 20-17.
The Chiefs stopped the 49ers again and got the ball back with just over five minutes to play after a fair catch by Mecole Hardman.
Chiefs wide receiver Sammy Watkins beat 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman on a 38-yard pass play to make it first and goal at 10-yard line.
Sherman was expecting help from the safety.
“We just made mistakes,” Sherman said. “Self-inflicted. Coverage busts.”
Mahomes tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Damien Williams to take the lead.
The 49ers drove to the 49, on fourth-and-10 at the 49, Garoppolo was sacked by Clark with 1:25 to play.
Williams broke loose for a 38-yard touchdown to help the Chiefs pull away late.
Any hopes for a rally went out the window when Garoppolo was intercepted by Kendall Fuller with :59 left to play.
Only two teams had come back from 10-point fourth quarter deficits in Super Bowl history. The Patriots did it against the Falcons in Super Bowl LI and against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
With both defenses in control, the game was tied 10-10 at halftime.
The Chiefs converted two gambles on fourth down, but did not maximize them with touchdowns. They also didn’t maximize a Garoppolo interception and settled for a field goal.
The Chiefs, perhaps in an attempt to offset San Francisco’s dynamic pass rush, threw a slew of quick passes to the outside and only took a few shots down the field.
The 49ers tried to attack the over-pursuing Chiefs with a lot of misdirection that featured wide receiver Deebo Samuel coming around on reverses. On one play, Samuel, a rookie from South Carolina, appeared to want to throw a pass back to Garoppolo, but decided to run.
San Francisco’s defense opened the game with a three-and-out. The 49ers’ offense promptly drove down the field before the drive stalled at the Chief’s 20. Robbie Gould made a 38-yard field goal to put the 49ers up 3-0.
The Chiefs answered with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown run. The Chief’s converted a fourth-and-1 from the 5-yard with a direct snap to running back Damien Williams after nifty four-man shift.
Two plays later, Mahomes scored from a yard out while running to his right. Harrison Butker’s kick put the Chiefs up 7-3.
On second-and-8 from San Francisco’s 41 on the ensuing possession, Garoppolo was under pressure from Chiefs tackle Chris Jones and flung a pass out to his right that was intercepted by Kansas City cornerback Bashaud Breeland. Garoppolo was hit by tackle Mike Pennel as he threw the ball.
After a yard interception return by Breeland, the Chiefs quickly went on the move with a 28-yard pass completion to Sammy Watkins to move down to the 49ers’ 28-yard line.
The Chiefs went for it on fourth-and-1 from the 19, Mahomes took a shot and pitched it out to Williams, who picked up the first down.
On third down, 49ers safety Tarvarius Moore put a big hit on Chief’s running Darwin Thompson and he dropped the pass. Butker made a 31-yard field to put the Chiefs up 10-3.
The 49ers answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk. He caught the pass at the 11-yard line and slipped a tackle from Chiefs linebacker Daniel Sorensen and rambled into the end zone. The extra point tied the game with 5:05 left in the second quarter.
After an exchange of possessions, the 49ers appeared to move the ball down inside the Chiefs’ 13-yard line, but tight end George Kittle was called for offensive pass interference on what would have been a 42-yard gain.
The 49ers, who were set to receive the ball at the start of the third quarter, elected to run out the clock.
“I’m just glad we won the game and we are taking the Vince Lombardi trophy back to Kansas City,” Kelce said.
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