Down 10, Chiefs had 49ers’ number
The Chiefs trailed by 24 points in the AFC divisional round against Houston, came back and won.
They trailed by 10 points in the AFC Championship Game against Tennessee, came back and won.
With less than nine minutes left in Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs’ electric yet faltering offense took the field trailing by 10 points against a 49ers defense that was one of the league’s best all season. And lightning struck again. With 21 consecutive points, the Chiefs stormed back to beat the 49ers 3120 in the franchise’s first Super Bowl trip in 50 years and secure the first Super Bowl win for head coach Andy Reid.
“It’s this team, we have heart,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the Super Bowl MVP, said during the trophy presentation.
“We never give up. I think those guys around us, the leaders that we have on this team, we have that mindset that we never give up. And we’re going to fight until the end.”
During the week, Kansas City players had said they wouldn’t panic if they found themselves trailing the 49ers, having rallied from firsthalf deficits in two straight games. Yet they appeared to be in dire circumstance down 2010 with only 8:53 left to stage one last comeback Sunday.
Mahomes had appeared fallible — throwing two secondhalf interceptions and missing throws under pressure from the 49ers’ front four. A highpowered Kansas City offense had 220 total yards through three quarters, largely missing its trademark big plays. And then: On a 3rdand15, Mahomes unloaded a 44yard throw to receiver Tyreek Hill to the 49ers’ 21. After a passinterference call on Tarvarius Moore, Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce for a 1yard touchdown.
The Chiefs’ defense forced a threeandout. On the ensuing drive, Mahomes found receiver Sammy Watkins for a 38yard gain to the 49ers’ 10yard line — setting up a 5yard touchdown pass to running back Damien Williams for a 2420 lead with 2:44 remaining.
After the 49ers had gone up 2010, cameras showed K.C. safety and defensive leader Tyrann Mathieu raging on the sideline. After the game, Mathieu was asked on the field if he’d believed in another comeback.
“We had zero doubt,” Mathieu told Fox. “We had such a good season, we prepared so well the last two weeks. … We just had to move on to the next play, believe in the next play.”
Mahomes had not thrown multiple interceptions in a game all season until he was intercepted on consecutive secondhalf drives Sunday. Over the next two series, Mahomes completed 8 of 12 throws for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
“Coach Reid told me after both of them to keep firing, keep believing in your eyes,” Mahomes told Fox. “He gives me the confidence to go out there no matter what I do.”
Reid, at last, claimed a Super Bowl win as a head coach. Reid’s 207 regularseason wins are the seventh most in NFL history — and before Sunday were most by a head coach without a Super Bowl win. Moments after Williams’ 38yard touchdown run iced the win for the Chiefs, TV cameras cut to Reid — calmly holding up one finger to signal for an extrapoint try.
“I’m so happy for Coach Reid,” Mathieu said.
Said Clark Hunt, Chiefs Chairman and CEO, during the trophy presentation: “Nobody deserves this trophy more than Andy Reid.”
Soon after, Reid was summoned to the front of the stage by Fox analyst Terry Bradshaw.
“Man alive,” Reid said. “How great is that?”
Matt Kawahara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthewkawahara