Super Bowl Champs: Kansas City Chiefs End 50-Year Drought, Beat 49ers 31-20

By: Matthew Zimmer

After three quarters of forgettable football, Patrick Mahomes finally woke up.

He finished the first half with 104 passing yards, an interception and a rushing touchdown. Early in the fourth, Mahomes threw his second INT of the game with the Chiefs trailing 20-10.

As quickly as a spark can be fanned into a flame, the 2018 NFL MVP threw two touchdowns in the final nine minutes to snag both the Super Bowl victory and the Super Bowl LIV MVP.

Game Recap

The teams were less than spectacular in the first half. The feeling out process between San Francisco and Kansas City seemed to take the entire opening 30 minutes. However, what may or may not have been big to some in the end still loomed large in my mind after the game.

The 49ers stopped the Chiefs on 3rd and 14 with about 1:50 to go in the first half, and they had all three timeouts. Yet, they decided to keep them for their offensive possession. Seeing this, the Chiefs used up as much time before Dustin Colquitt’s punt. So, instead of having say 1:40 and two timeouts, the Niners chose to let the clock run down to 59 seconds with three timeouts.

The “gamble” didn’t pay off. San Francisco had the ball and was set to receive the second half kickoff. In Kyle Shanahan’s perfect world, he would have scored (Field Goal or Touchdown) and then scored to start the third quarter. Instead, the 49ers got nothing before halftime after George Kittle pushed off on a 42-yard catch, and the offensive pass interference nullified the catch.

To start the third, San Francisco’s drive stalled leading to a 42-yd FG from Robbie Gould, his second made FG of the game. Mahomes got his first crack at possession in the second 30 minutes, and promptly threw his first interception of the postseason seven plays into the drive. Jimmy Garoppolo drove the Niners down field with a couple nice passes and Raheem Mostert punched in his first (and only) touchdown of the night.

Down 20-10, Mahomes wanted to make something happen. The Chiefs seemed disjointed and then Mahomes threw his second INT of the Super Bowl. It looked like the 49ers just needed to run some clock and score and they could be Super Bowl Champions. Instead, a five-and-out. They got a first down, but then a costly false start penalty made third and nine into third and 14. The Niners couldn’t pick it up, and punted the ball away.

With 8:53 to go, and still down 20-10, Mahomes finally got his magic back. He hit his first deep ball of the night, a 44-yarder to Tyreek Hill, which was the longest play of the game. After a defensive pass interference on San Francisco, Mahomes found Travis Kelce on play-action for a one yard touchdown. 20-17 Niners.

Then, San Francisco did something they hadn’t done all night. They went three-and-out. So, Mahomes gets the ball back with 5:10 to go and all the momentum in the world. Less than two and a half minutes later, the Chiefs are celebrating their first lead since 7-3 in the first quarter. 24-20 Chiefs.

San Francisco, with all three timeouts, gets the ball with 2:44 to go. A nice run from Mostert starts the drive, but another False Start penalty pushes SF back. Not to fret, they pick up the first down. The next three plays: incomplete, incomplete, incomplete. 4th down and 10, and the Chiefs sacked Garoppolo. Turnover on downs.

Damien Williams had been doing things for Kansas City all night, but it hadn’t been very highlight-worthy (mostly) to this point. However, he unofficially sealed the Chiefs Super Bowl victory with a 38-yard touchdown scamper. 31-20 Chiefs.

Down 11 with 1:12 to go, the Niners got the ball back and two plays later Garoppolo threw his second interception to officially seal the game for the Chiefs.

Follow 750 The Game on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.