By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
Can't really debate the whole dynasty thing anymore.
Mahomes threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman with three seconds left in overtime, and the Chiefs rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22, on Sunday in the second overtime game in Super Bowl history at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Chiefs become the first repeat champions in the Super Bowl in 19 years and the ninth overall.
Mahomes also captured his third Super Bowl MVP title with 399 total yards of offense. With pop star Taylor Swift watching boyfriend Kelce from a suite, the Chiefs captured their third Super Bowl title in five years.
The NFL’s first Super Bowl in Las Vegas was a sloppy, mistake-filled affair that was mostly boring until the back-and-forth fourth quarter and OT.
It was the second of 58 Super Bowls to go to overtime - the last was in 2017 when the Patriots came back from a 28-3 deficit to stun the Falcons.
The Chiefs trailed 22-19 after Jake Moody kicked a 27-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime, but Mahomes rallied the Chiefs, completing another impressive comeback in a rematch of Super Bowl 54.
Mahomes ran eight yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the Chiefs' chances alive and then scrambled 19 yards to set up the game-winning score which came 14:57 into the extra period — just before what would have been the second OT.
“With all the adversity we’ve been through this season to come through tonight...I’m proud of the guys,” said Mahomes, who was named MVP. “This is awesome. Legendary.”
After he connected with a wide-open Hardman, the Chiefs ran on the field as red-and-yellow confetti fell on the turf.
The most excitement in the first half came when a frustrated Kelce bumped Andy Reid on the sideline, knocking the Chiefs' 65-year-old coach a few steps back after teammate Isiah Pacheco fumbled inside the red zone during the second quarter.
“You guys saw that?” Kelce said. “I’m going to keep it between us unless my ‘mic’d up’ tells the world. I was just telling him how much I loved him.”
The action picked up after a crucial blunder by San Francisco’s special teams set up Mahomes’ 16-yard TD pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 13-10 lead.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers answered, but they couldn’t make enough plays, denying Mr. Irrelevant an opportunity to go from last pick in the 2022 NFL draft to Super Bowl champion.
Purdy finished 23-of-38 through the air for 255 yards and a score.
Mahomes and Reid are now halfway to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who won six championships in 20 years together with the New England Patriots and were the most recent team to go back-to-back following the 2003-04 seasons.
The 28-year-old Mahomes becomes the fourth starting QB to win three Super Bowls — joining Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman — and second-youngest.
Niners wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a TD pass and caught one, joining Eagles quarterback Nick Foles six years ago as the only players to do both in the Super Bowl.
After Moody’s 53-yard field goal gave the 49ers a 19-16 lead with 1:53 remaining, Mahomes and Kelce went to work. Mahomes connected with Kelce for a 22-yard gain to set up Butker’s tying kick, a 29-yarder with 3 seconds left.
A holding call on Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie extended San Francisco’s opening drive of overtime and Purdy made key throws to drive the 49ers to the Chiefs 9. But, San Francisco settled for a field goal.
Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the Niners jumped ahead 10-0, but that’s no big deal for Mahomes and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, as history has shown. They’ve trailed by 10 points in all three of their victories, including last year’s 38-35 win over Philadelphia.
Mahomes wasn’t at his best early and threw an interception. But, with the game on the line, he was a magician once again. He finished 34 of 46 for 333 yards and two TDs. Kelce caught nine passes for 93 yards.
Mahomes was the team's leading rusher with 66 yards on nine carries.
The Chiefs were hardly dominant during the regular season and entered the playoffs as the AFC's No. 3 seed. They won at Buffalo and at Baltimore in the postseason — the first road playoff games of Mahomes' career — and entered the Super Bowl as 2.5-point underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
“The Kansas City Chiefs are never underdogs. Just know that,” Mahomes said on the podium with CBS' Jim Nantz.
Mahomes wasn’t at his best early and threw an interception. But, with the game on the line, he was a magician once again. He finished 34 of 46 for 333 yards and two TDs.
The game turned when San Francisco’s Ray-Ray McCloud couldn’t scoop a punt that hit teammate Darrell Luter Jr.’s leg and the Chiefs recovered at the 49ers 16, leading to Mahomes' go-ahead TD pass to Valdes-Scantling.
The Niners answered on the next possession with Purdy tossing a 10-yard TD pass to Jennings for a 16-13 lead. Moody’s extra point was blocked.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan gambled on fourth-and-3 from the Chiefs 15, passing up a chance for a tying field goal. Purdy hit George Kittle for a 4-yard gain and then found Jennings for the score.
Shanahan resorted to trickery for the only touchdown in the first half.
Jennings, a wide receiver who had never thrown a pass in an NFL game, tossed a 21-yard TD to McCaffrey. He was hit as he threw, but McCaffrey snagged the wobbly pass across the field and sprinted to the end zone.
Shanahan fell to 0-2 as a head coach in Super Bowls and 0-3 overall, including a loss when he was offensive coordinator for Atlanta. That was the game in which Brady and the Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit to win in OT.
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