by Patrick Mahomes once again got the better of his injured ankle as his Kansas City Chiefs won an epic shootout with the Philadelphia Eagles over Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl LVII.
A 38-35 Chiefs victory on Sunday added to Mahomes’ now undeniable legacy, even if the result was harsh for Hurts, who faced what is now the first league MVP since Kurt Warner in 1999 to go through and win it everything.
Hurts, who scored three rushing touchdowns, and the Eagles would have been deserving champions had they faced anyone else Mahomes.
The Chiefs’ hopes of winning the title seemed dashed when their quarterback suffered a high ankle sprain in the Divisional round against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But a stumbling Mahomes beat the Jaguars, the Cincinnati Bengals and then, in Glendale, Arizona, the Eagles, who got a hit late in the second quarter but recovered to finish with three passing touchdowns and another title.
A clinical opening drive by the Eagles ended with a quarterback sneak from Hurts for the opening scoring.
Neither the Chiefs nor the Eagles were trailing in the playoffs up to that point, but Mahomes had an immediate answer with a TD pass to Travis Kelce.
The response wasn’t all that impressive at first in the second quarter, which began with a 45-yard Hurts bomb to AJ Brown, but the Chiefs were tied again when the Philly QB’s fumble was recovered by Nick Bolton for a defensive TD.
Hurts quickly regained his composure and ran straight down the middle for his second rushing TD, before the Chiefs saw Mahomes limp away from a tackle on the next drive, trailing by 10 points by the time he returned for the second half.
Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field to allow Isiah Pacheco to run in, and Kansas City had their first lead after QB Kadarius found Toney wide open on a tricky pre-snap move to run into the endzone.
Momentum was now solid with the Chiefs, and Toney’s 65-yard punt return—the longest in Super Bowl history—positioned Mahomes for another straightforward TD pass to Skyy Moore.
Hurts was not done as a 46-yard pass to DeVonta Smith set up the QB for another short TD run, followed by a successful two-point conversion.
That tied the game, but still Mahomes managed to set the clock to allow Harrison Butker to kick the game-winning field goal and go off just eight seconds before the party could begin.
Chiefs held control… for half a year
The Eagles’ defense was as much of a drag for Mahomes in the first half as his injury. The Chiefs had just eight minutes and six seconds of possession before halftime, after which Andy Reid might have been happy to be just 10 points behind.
However, Mahomes and his teammates are no strangers to a comeback, as they also trailed by 10 against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. There have been only six such comebacks in Super Bowl history, and the Chiefs were responsible for two of them after a stunning second half.
Run, Eagles Run – history before Hurts
Heading into the Super Bowl, the Eagles had seven rushing TDs in the postseason compared to none by the Chiefs. With three more in this game, the Eagles became the first team in NFL history to record at least three quick scores in three straight games in the same playoff campaign.
Hurts, who already held the record for most hasty TDs by a QB in a season, accounted for each of those three. His three rushing TDs and 70 rushing yards were both Super Bowl records among QBs. Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis, in Super Bowl XXXII, is the only player at any position to match Hurts’ three TDs.
It was not a feat that deserved to see Hurts finish on the losing side.
