Patrick Mahomes and Co. has had great success over his first few years in the league. That is probably an understatement. After throwing fifty touchdowns and claiming his first MVP award in 2018, Mahomes set out for his first championship. Three Lombardis later, Mahomes has piled story after story and this is just one of them.
The Kansas City Star said it best hours after Patrick Mahomes conquered the 49ers and lifted the first of his multi-Lombardi collection: King Them! It was a statement that would ring true past that moment and some may argue is still ringing. Ever since that moment, Patrick Mahomes and his teams have been atop the NFL world, winning three of the last five Super Bowls, with the previous two coming back to back.
The championship win was the first for the Chiefs franchise in fifty years, with the previous and only win in franchise history coming in the fourth Super Bowl against the Minnesota Vikings in 1970. It ended a drought for the Hunt family and their team as well as Andy Reid, a coach who had experienced an illustrious career, but had fallen short so many times before.
Just like the world had no idea the pandemic that was going to take over the world just months later, no one knew what this small drink of being on top would do for a franchise that had been so thirsty.
After going down early to a Robbie Gould field goal it was clear the young quarterback would have to play comeback ball, something he proved to be proficient at. In the waning moments of the quarter, Mahomes kept an option run, giving the Chiefs their first touchdown score in a Super Bowl since the third quarter of Super Bowl IV. A field goal early in the second quarter gave the Chiefs what they needed, insurance.
Kansas City’s defense had ranked in the middle of the pack for most of the 2019 campaign but had multiple moments of struggle. They experienced one of those moments starting in the middle of the second quarter. 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was able to find Kyle Juszczyk on a fifteen-yard pass to tie it up as the game headed into halftime. That’s when things started to fall apart. Right out of the second-half gates, the 49ers pulled together a drive that ended in a field goal – and the lead. Mahomes didn’t help out the defense on the following drive when he attempted a deep pass to Tyreek Hill on third down that was picked off by Fred Warner. San Francisco took the turnover and pushed it down the field, capped off by Raheem Mostert punching it in for the ten-point lead.
Even with all the defensive struggles, there was something that was incredibly noticeable about what happened after that touchdown: that is where San Francisco’s scoring ended.
Patrick Mahomes and Co. went on to score three unanswered touchdowns – all coming within the last six and a half minutes. All of the touchdowns are iconic moments in the Kansas City Chiefs history, with the first being the first Mahomes – Kelce Super Bowl link-up. The Chiefs took just under three minutes to get the ball down the field and to the one-yard line before Patrick Mahomes found Kelce in the back of the endzone, cutting the SF lead to three.
After the defense forced a punt, ‘Showtime’ Mahomes went right back out on the field and delivered another performance – a 65-yard, seven-play drive. It ended with a Mahomes pass to running back Damien Williams who extended the ball to the pylon as his momentum took him out of bounds. After a review confirmed the touchdown, the Chiefs were back on top, 24-20.
The Chiefs’ defense held up again, this time on a fourth down play, and presented Patrick Mahomes with one final enemy to conquer – time. Andy Reid opted to run the ball and it worked out well for him after Damien Williams found a hole on the left-side and broke away for his second touchdown of the evening. His 38-yard run clinched everything the franchise had been working for and more. It also set the standard for Kansas City Chiefs teams that are under the watchful eyes of Andy Reid. A standard that is still in place today.
