Ladies and gentlemen, we have a dynasty.
It certainly wasn’t pretty at times, but in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes won their third title in five years with a 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
They don’t ask how, just how many, right?
The Chiefs are the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots won in both 2003 and 2004, and they now will have a chance to do what no team has ever done when they go for the three-peat next season.
And at this point, who is going to bet against them? As long as the now three-time Super Bowl MVP is under centre, they are always going to have a chance.
Their championship also comes in a year when they admittedly didn’t play their best football for a large portion of their season. They had to go on the road in the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes’ career and were underdogs for all three of their final playoff games.
Might be a lesson to us all, that just like a team quarterbacked by Tom Brady, a Mahomes-led squad should never be bet against. The Chiefs quarterback even said so himself.
“The Kansas City Chiefs are never underdogs,” Mahomes told CBS’s Jim Nantz after the game with the Lombardi Trophy in hand.
No arguments here.
With the newest sports dynasty officially established, let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the big game.
Expect anything different?
When the Chiefs received the ball in overtime, trailing by three and needing a touchdown to win the game, everyone saw the outcome coming.
Heck, even 49ers fans probably knew what they were in store for even if they won’t admit it.
Because despite all his up-and-down play all season, and even a few miscues in Sunday’s game, the one quarterback in today’s game no team wants to see on the final drive is Mahomes.
Even when the Chiefs had a fourth down on the winning drive and needed just inches, Reid decided to let Mahomes handle what could’ve been the game-ending play from the shotgun. The Cheifs coach knew that the worst thing he could possibly do was take the ball out of his quarterback’s hands and lose the game on a failed run.
Sure enough, Mahomes made Reid’s decision look like the right one, and picked up the all-important first down with his legs.
He then calmly marched the Chiefs down the field and capped off his third Super Bowl win with the game-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman.
We all knew it was coming, but it was still a pleasure to watch.
OT burns Shanahan again
There have only been two overtime Super Bowls in NFL history, and San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan has lost them both.
The first was the infamous 28-3 blown lead by the Atlanta Falcons against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Shanahan was the offensive co-ordinator of that squad.
Now Shanahan has lost again in OT, and also falls to 0-2 in Super Bowls as a head coach, with both losses coming to the Chiefs.
The decision by the 49ers to take the ball in overtime with the new scoring rules was also a curious one. Was that Shanahan wanting to give his defence a breather? Or have teams not caught onto the strategy of the new playoff overtime rules? Surely it’s an advantage to get the ball second and know what you need to do.
Either way, Shanahan probably won’t want to see OT again if he gets to another Super Bowl.
Mr. Irrelevant no more
Credit where credit is due, Brock Purdy deserves a name change.
We’re not sure if you heard, but Brock Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The “Mr. Irrelevant” storyline was front and centre in the lead-up to the big game.
But after his performance on Sunday, we think he’s officially outgrown the nickname. “Mr. Very Relevant” might be more applicable, because Purdy is officially here to stay.
The former Iowa State star went toe-to-toe with Mahomes, and made a number of big plays to give his team a real shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Purdy finished with 255 yards through the air and one touchdown while also not turning the ball over.
Not too shabby for his first appearance in the big game.
Mistakes galore
Don’t study this one too hard, kids.
The Chiefs will take the win and surely deserve credit for making the big plays when they needed to, but even they will admit, it wasn’t exactly a clean football game.
Both starting running backs fumbled the ball, there was a muffed punt, a blocked kick, bad snaps and dropped tosses. This game had a little bit of it all.
Winning a Super Bowl isn’t easy. It’s especially hard when you continuously shoot yourself in the foot.
The championship DNA that got both teams to the big dance was lacking at points on Sunday.
Even the Chiefs’ longest play of the game, a 52-yard bomb from Mahomes to Mecole Hardman, was followed up by a fumble on the very next play.
Things were going so badly for the Chiefs in the first half, that star tight end Travis Kelce almost knocked over his head coach in visible frustration.
Kelce would eventually make up for it with a huge second half that saw him haul in 92 of his 93 yards in the game, but things were certainly looking rocky at one point.
One of the only things the Chiefs did right in the first half was courtesy of their new super fan, Taylor Swift, who chugged a beer much to the delight of the 61,629 fans in attendance. We know Jason Kelce was looking on with approval.
It will be a little easier for the Chiefs to live with their mistakes, no doubt. But let’s just say neither team will be rushing to break down the film of this one.
49ers dominate up front
The Chiefs came through in the end, but let’s not discredit the effort of the 49ers’ defence. Specifically the big boys up front.
If it felt like Mahomes was constantly on the move and being hit all game, it’s because he was, and you can thank the efforts of Nick Bosa, Chase Young and the rest of the 49ers front seven.
They made Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offence look very pedestrian for a large portion of the game, a feat that very few teams have accomplished since Mahomes has been a starting quarterback. San Francisco sacked Mahomes three times and also forced him to throw into a bad overthrow due to their relentless pressure.
While Mahomes eventually got the last laugh, no one can say the 49ers didn’t give it their all on both sides of the ball, specifically defensively.
Usher for a PTO?
No matter how you felt about the Usher’s halftime show, you have to admit, the rollerskate choreography was an impressive feat.
On a stage as big as the Super Bowl, to pull it off with no real hiccups deserves its own recognition.
Plus, did you see the edge work by Usher? Maybe it’s time for him to put down the mic and pick up a stick. If he can get pucks deep, he might have a chance.
