STATS Perform/dpa
Patrick Mahomes again got the better of his injured ankle as his Kansas City Chiefs won an epic shoot-out with Jalen Hurts’ Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
A 38-35 Chiefs victory on Sunday added to Mahomes’ now undeniable legacy, even if the result was harsh on Hurts, who went toe-to-toe with what is now the first league MVP since Kurt Warner in 1999 to go on and win it all.
Hurts, who scored three rushing touchdowns, and the Eagles would have been deserving champions had they faced anyone other Mahomes.
The Chiefs’ hopes of winning the title had appeared remote when their quarterback suffered a high ankle sprain in the Divisional round against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But a hobbling Mahomes saw off the Jaguars, the Cincinnati Bengals and then, in Glendale, Arizona, the Eagles, taking a hit late in the second quarter but recovering to finish with three passing touchdowns and another title. A clinical opening drive from the Eagles ended with a quarterback sneak from Hurts for the opening score.
Neither the Chiefs nor the Eagles had trailed in the playoffs to that point, but Mahomes had an instant reply with a TD pass to Travis Kelce.
The response was not initially so impressive in the second quarter, which began with a 45-yard Hurts bomb to A.J. Brown, yet the Chiefs were back level again when the Philly QB’s fumble was recovered by Nick Bolton for a defensive TD.
Hurts quickly regained his composure and ran straight up the middle for his second rushing TD, before the Chiefs’ next drive saw Mahomes limp away from a tackle, facing a 10-point deficit by the time he returned for the second half.
Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field for Isiah Pacheco to run in, and Kansas City had their first lead after the QB found Kadarius Toney wide open after some tricky pre-snap motion to walk into the endzone. Momentum was now firmly with the Chiefs, and Toney’s 65-yard punt return - the longest in Super Bowl history - put Mahomes in position for another straightforward TD pass to Skyy Moore.
Hurts was not done as a 46-yard pass to DeVonta Smith teed the QB up for another short TD run, followed by a successful two-point conversion. That tied the game, yet Mahomes managed the clock to allow Harrison Butker to kick the decisive field goal and leave only eight seconds before the celebrations could start.