After 50 long years, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions. This team faced many trials and tribulations throughout the season. Interestingly, it was no different in the big game. The Chiefs offense had been slowed down, and they were in a hole with their backs against the wall. Once again, they would not be denied, as Kansas City stormed past the San Francisco 49ers. Let’s look back at the Super Bowl now, with our game recap.
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Back and Forth
Both teams were not perfect in the first half. Yet, when one team got a break, they usually capitalized. The Chiefs went three and out to begin the game. Then, the Niners marched down the field on a ten play drive. Kansas City was able to stand tall in the red zone and hold them to a field goal. This was an early win for the Chiefs.
Patrick Mahomes and the offense then found their groove. Kansas City’s quarterback used short passes to Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, along with his scrambling ability to move his team downfield. Andy Reid also did a fine job of getting Damien Williams‘ carries in to the mix as well.
On the ensuing drive, Jimmy Garoppolo was pressured by both Chris Jones and Mike Pennel. The result was a lame duck throw, which Bashaud Breeland intercepted. A field goal was tacked on afterwards by the Chiefs. San Francisco ultimately got their patented running game going after that. Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman were racing by the Chiefs defenders. This touchdown drive tied the Super Bowl contest back up, at 10 all.
Gold Rush Bonanza
In the third quarter, it was all 49ers. Garoppolo was hitting his receivers with ease. Deebo Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders were beating the Chiefs secondary on quick in cuts over the middle. This led to extra yardage after the catch, too. San Francisco would score 10 points in the third quarter to gain a double digit lead.
In between those two scoring drives, Fred Warner intercepted Mahomes to really turn the tables. The Chiefs drive ended in an uncharacteristic fashion. Mahomes had the ball knocked out of his hands, but thankfully he jumped on top of it. However, he forced a ball into coverage on third and long to Hill. We rarely see this QB force passes like this. It was a bad throw and it put the 49ers in the driver’s seat. And, that was not all. Mahomes had another throw that was intercepted early in the fourth quarter. The pass was behind Hill a bit, and the receiver could not hang on to make the play. This was devastating, because the Chiefs were just outside of the red zone.
Super Surge
Following this second interception, the Kansas City defense rose up. They forced a punt right after the turnover. Mahomes somehow launched a rocket to find Hill for 44 yards on a 3rd and 15 attempt. This put the Chiefs right at the red zone again. Kansas City would get back within one score when Kelce got a one yard pass for the touchdown.
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San Francisco’s offense stalled again on the following drive. Mostert picked up a modest five yards on a first down run. Then, Jones had yet another of a few pass deflections at the line of scrimmage. Ben Niemann would knock Garoppolo silly on a hurried throw on third down to force another punt.
From that moment, it felt like the Chiefs were going to come out on top. They raced down the field for 65 yards in a swift two and a half minutes. What play stood out in particular? Sammy Watkins fooled Richard Sherman with his release, and Mahomes lobbed the ball into the bread basket. It was a gain of 38 yards, setting Kansas City up at the 49ers 10 yard line. Mahomes would find Williams on a quick pass for the touchdown. The booth reviewed the play. Honestly, it was difficult to tell what the right call was, as Williams stretched the ball over the pylon. But, his foot was out of bounds seemingly at the same time. The referees likely had inconclusive evidence to overturn the play. Kansas City had now retaken the lead.
Total Elation
Garoppolo and the Niners offense could only amass a few positive plays in return. Jimmy G was pressure by the Chiefs front seven leading to a turnover on downs. Additionally, Garoppolo threw another interception in garbage time to Kendall Fuller. When the Chiefs had the ball again, Williams 38 yard rushing touchdown around the edge felt unbelievable. The combination of him getting behind that last San Francisco defender gave all of the Chiefs fanbase goosebumps. What a performance he had both rushing and receiving, in what use to be his home stadium. The clock finally hit zero. And the celebration was underway, as the Kansas City Chiefs finally became Super Bowl champions after half of a century.
Playing A Major Role
There will be many players or individuals that may not get talked about enough for achieving this feat. Players like Mitchell Schwartz, Anthony Hitchens, Rashad Fenton and others all had a big part in hand to get the Chiefs to this point. We hope to write about some of those people coming up in future articles. What about Matt Moore? He was coaching at his former high school about a week or two before the regular season started. He led this team to two wins in the three contests he started in, when Mahomes was out with a dislocated knee. In fact, Kansas City was very close to defeating the Green Bay Packers as well. So many men were important. Furthermore, they did it all for one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history. To see Andy Reid finally get his Super Bowl ring was incredible. He may be looking forward to a few more.
Be on the lookout for Chiefs offseason coverage beginning this week. We will certainly have some Super Bowl, season wrap up pieces too. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.
– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.