THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl champions, again.
Patrick Mahomes was the game's MVP, again.
We are witnessing a new dynasty, again.
It all sounds very familiar and matter-of-fact. In reality, for large parts of Sunday night in Las Vegas it was anything but that. Well OK, maybe there was a sense of inevitability when the Chiefs got the ball for their first, and what turned out to be the only, chance to win the game in the overtime period of play. And that moment of magic followed another sense of the inevitable when Mahomes led them on a drive to tie the game up at the end of regulation time.
Super Bowl Sunday is embedded in the psyche of sports fans all over the world. It’s a day, for some a week, that has all the great and good that the National Football League can bring. They had it in spades, bucket loads, during their stay in the Nevada desert. It was always going to be that way, despite the long and winding road that had not allowed sports franchises to play in Sin City for so long.
Now, though, with this backdrop of flashing lights and clinking coin machines, with its synthetic surroundings that make everyone feel it’s a 24-hour living and breathing behemoth, it was one man who rose above the rest, with the world watching and wondering if this was all real. It was.
Patrick Mahomes is at the threshold of generating a new world order for standards in the NFL. There were many backstories leading up to the game. Maybe the most compelling was the two star quarterbacks. The Mr Irrelevant – the term given to the last player picked in the NFL Draft - backdrop to San Francisco 49ers passer Brock Purdy, who played a near faultless game, through to Mahomes chasing down Tom Brady’s record of seven titles. It was a contrast that on paper seemed a little unfair, but that is often the narrative. A giant waiting to be slayed by the new young hot prospect.
In the main, this was a game that would go down as a slow burner. We did not have the expected explosive big plays, hardly any in fact in terms of plays that took up huge amounts of yards. Instead, we had two hard-nosed defenses that stood up, just as they had for the whole season, and emerged from the shadows of their offenses. The first quarter was scoreless, the first time that had happened in five years. Special teams were now a feature as punters were seeking field position, and the kickers were as reliable as ever with the record for longest field goal made in the big game being broken twice.
When the first touchdown finally arrived it was courtesy of some 49ers trickery with Purdy passing laterally to Jauan Jennings who then pitched a pass to Christian McCaffrey who did the rest, as he so often does. At 10-0 and an offense that was being held, the Chiefs were visibly regrouping on the sidelines. Mahomes gathered his troops for an ad hoc meeting, as did Chris Jones with his defensive set. This was after an early altercation that saw Travis Kelce bump his coach Andy Reid on the sidelines, berating his leader after being called out of a play that was a bread-and-butter situation for the tight end. (And yes, Kelce’s girlfriend made it from Tokyo to Vegas for the game.)
Harrison Butker was keeping his feelings in check, and the placekicker who also holds his air on inevitability, split the uprights on either side of the Usher halftime show to get the reigning champs back on course. The renewed vigor of the Kansas City defense was now in control and their QB was finding new gears. They took their first lead of the game with just over two minutes left in the third quarter, as Mahomes found a wide-open Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone.
With the game taking on a new sense of urgency, Purdy found his mojo and replied with his scoring drive. He passed to Jennings and the receiver bounced off a tackle and strolled in. Jake Moody, who had earlier broken the longest field goal record only to see Butker take it away soon after, missed the extra point attempt, or rather had it blocked. With the 49ers lead at 3 points the teams exchanged field goals. The last one, with just three ticks left on the clock, sent the game into overtime, only the second time this has happened in the long history of the Super Bowl.
The overtime rules have been modified in recent years, a fairer way for postseason games to end. Each team would have a chance to possess the ball, even if the first one scored a touchdown. The Niners won the coin toss and took the ball. Head coach Kyle Shanahan would later explain that was so they would have the ball first in a sudden-death situation should the scores remain tied. Moody atoned for his earlier miscue and put his team ahead after a long drive, but with seven minutes on the clock, Mahomes took over.
Despite a couple of setbacks, a penalty and a loss in yardage, Mahomes steered his team up the field with unnerving ease. It was as if he knew - his whole team knew - that this was how it was going to be. Knowing a field goal would keep the game going, he was thinking only touchdown, and nothing was going to stop him. Twice he scrambled to keep the game going, and when he caught the Niners off guard his simple three-yard toss - again with just three seconds left - to Mecole Hardman, sealed the game with a 25-22 scoreline.
Kansas City now has three titles in five years. Pre-game there was already talk of a dynasty, maybe even if they had lost, such is the way the Chiefs keep winning. Mahomes has reached the AFC title game in each of his six seasons in the league. Now he has three rings from four visits to the Super Bowl. He says he is just getting started. That is a very worrying statement for the rest of the league. With so many bright young quarterbacks in the NFL right now, he just keeps finding a way to beat them all. Much like the man whose records he is chasing did.
The Chiefs’ season was far from perfect, an 11-6 record shows that, but they still find a way to win. Their postseason run is arguably one of the best in the NFL. After failing to secure the number one seed, they had to fight off a brash Miami Dolphins side, and then on the road beat the Buffalo Bills and number one seed Baltimore Ravens. After beating the league's other one seed to go back-to-back champions, the first time that has happened in the league for two decades, KC can truly call themselves a dynasty team.
No one at this stage will bet against them making it a threepeat 12 months from now.
