Patrick Mahomes Late Heroics Earn QB Super Bowl LIV MVP in Chiefs 31-20 Victory
Patrick Mahomes was playing some of his worst football in Super Bowl LIV, until he wasn’t.
The 2018 NFL Most Valuable Player threw more interceptions (one) than touchdowns (zero) in the three quarter. He was struggling to dissect the San Francisco defense.
He threw his first interception of the postseason with his team already down 13-10. Then, the Niners made him pay by scoring a touchdown.
Down 20-10, he threw an interception on third down, and San Francisco took over at their own 20. Unfortunately for the Niners, they did nothing with the ball and gave it back to KC.
Still down 20-10, and 8:53 to go, Mahomes found his mojo. He connected on a deep pass to Tyreek Hill for 44 yards. Then three plays later, San Francisco committed a defensive pass interference penalty, which put the ball at the one yard line.
The next play, Mahomes found Travis Kelce for a one-yard touchdown. 20-17 Niners. We had ourselves a ball game.
San Francisco had lost the momentum they’d built up with their 20-10 lead. Jimmy Garoppolo needed to have his “Super Bowl MVP” moment to lead the team downfield and answer the Chiefs score. He didn’t.
Instead, the Niners went three-and-out for the first time all game. After the punt, Mahomes got the ball back with 5:10 to go. Plenty of time for this high-flying, high-octane offense to score under the guidance of Mahomes.
Seven plays and 2:26 later, the Chiefs are back in front with Mahomes finding Damian Williams for a five-yard touchdown.
The next Niners drive got to midfield and stalled. Garoppolo threw three straight incompletions and was sacked on 4th down. Kansas City took over, and Williams ran the ball twice; once for four yards and the other for 38 yards and the game-sealing touchdown.
With KC up 31-20, and under two minutes to play, it was all but over. Garoppolo threw his second interception and then it was over.
Patrick Mahomes finished with 286 yards on 26/42 passing, with two touchdown passes, two interceptions and a rushing score.
Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes was 5-0 when trailing by double-digits this season, including 3-0 in the postseason. He is the first QB in NFL history to lead three double-digit comebacks in a single postseason.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2020
