Kansas City and quarterback Patrick Mahomes made a tremendous comeback to win the 54th NFL Super Bowl, the second in franchise history, at the expense of San Francisco (31-20), Sunday February 2 in Miami, at a thrilling finale.
The Missouri team, which has ended fifty years of famine since its first coronation against Minnesota, succeeds the winners in New England. Last year, Tom Brady's Patriots won for the sixth time, extending an 18-year dynasty in which they played nine finals.
This time, no "Pats" nor "Brady" on the bill, no "Super Bore" either unlike the tasteless finale of last year, but Chiefs, whose triumph could open a new era , and whose youthful Afro-cut face is that of Patrick Mahomes.
"Magic Mahomes"
The 24-year-old is the second youngest quarterback in history to lift the Vince-Lombardi trophy after Ben Roethlisberger. He suffered for a long time under the enormous defensive pressure imposed by the 49ers, but he showed enough composure and talent to do what his whole team expected of him: the difference.
"No matter the score, we have Pat Mahomes," said wide receiver Travis Kelce. "It's 'magic Mahomes', it's 'showtime Mahomes'. And you know what? He wanted to put this team back in the game."
His fourth quarter was indeed that of the great champions, under the eyes of legends of this sport like Joe Montana, present at the Hard Rock Stadium packed with 76,000 spectators and who would surely have preferred to see his 49ers enter the Pantheon of the most titled, alongside New England and Green Bay.
Patrick "clutch" Mahomes
Accusing ten points behind, after three quarters of akin to a nightmare, four times beaten, intercepted twice, Mahomes first succeeded in a crucial throw which found Tyreek Hill 44 yards away. He then finished the job perfectly with an offering to Travis Kelce (20-17).
The renewed confidence among Chiefs, who had demonstrated during these play-offs their ability to reverse compromised situations, as in the 2nd round against Houston (51-31 after being led 24-0), resulted in another recital of Mahomes, who managed four consecutive passes to go up fifty yards and finally find Damien Williams for the touchdown (24-20).
The latter then gave the finishing blow by achieving the double in the last minutes of a 38-yard race.
"We never lost confidence. No one on this team had their heads down and we found a way to win at the end," said Mahomes, who had himself entered the first Kansas City touchdown in the first quarter and was logically designated MVP of the Super Bowl.
The "QB" opposite Jimmy Garropolo did not deserve for what also constituted his first final, he who won two Super Bowls without playing (2015, 2017), watching shine the one whose he was the replacement in New England, Tom Brady.
Garropolo, who was not the first offensive threat for the 49ers, unlike running back Raheem Mostert, author of a touchdown, was effective in his throws for three quarters since 18 out of 22 were completed, including one which allowed Kyle Juszczyk to register the tying touchdown (10-10) before the break.
Reid finally rewarded
But his back to the wall, he cracked in the money-time by being intercepted for the second time in the match, under the eyes of Andy Reid, the mustachioed coach of the Chiefs, 61 years, who understood at that time where he would no longer be considered the best NFL coach to ever win a title.
Feeling opposite for the coach of the 49ers, Kyle Shanahan, decidedly cursed. Three years ago, then Atlanta's offensive coordinator, he thought he had won the Super Bowl by leading 28-3 to New England, before losing after extra time (34-28). A bitter memory he hoped to hunt under the gaze of Mike Shanahan, twice winner of the Super Bowl with Denver.
A father and son, sacred coaches, would have been a first in the NFL. But for her one hundred years, she couldn't have dreamed of better publicity than this exciting finale.
Especially since under the eyes of 100 million Americans, the halftime show was hot, with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, between hip movements and ripples of the buttocks. While Donald Trump did not know where to head between Kansas and Missouri, confusing the Chiefs' home state in his congratulatory tweet, immediately deleted.
With AFP
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