Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DAVID HYDE
It ended Sunday with Mahomes re-writing the ending. The goat for three quarters became the hero when it mattered.
MIAMI GARDENS — Patrick Mahomes, the story of Kansas City’s season, stood with hands on his hips and stared blankly downfield, the posture of disbelief after back-to-back interceptions. This was the story of their season in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Until it suddenly wasn’t.
This was the story of the Super Bowl, as San Francisco’s defense first frustrated and now danced before the Kansas City quarterback at Hard Rock Stadium. Mahomes as goat. Mahomes as shrinking in the moment.
Until Mahomes magically rewrote the story.
You want to see greatness defined? You want to see a big talent match the biggest stage?
All Mahomes’ struggles through three-plus quarters — the two interceptions, the 20-10 deficit, the season down to seven minutes — merely laid the groundwork for the magic carpet ride he took Kansas City on in a 31-20 win.
“They had an amazing defense — one of the best de
fenses I’ve gone up against in my career,’’ said Mahomes, who at 24 became the youngest Most Valuable Player in a Super Bowl.
“We had to just keep fighting to come out on top in the end.”
What did that mean? It meant facing a third-and-15 when trailing by those 10 points and throwing for 44 yards. It meant completing 4 of 60 passes for 70 yards on that drive, the final one a touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce.
“We still needed another one,’’ Mahomes said, noting they trailed 20-17.
He got the ball back with five minutes left. That was more than enough. All he did was complete all five passes for 60 yards on that drive, including one in the flat to Damien Williams for the touchdown.
Somewhere, a torch was passed. Somewhere, Tom Brady surely was nodding in Hard Rock Stadium. Somewhere, too, every team that passed on Mahomes in the draft just three years ago had to wonder how they did.
Somewhere, too, Kansas City General Manager Brett Veach was celebrating his scouting of Mahomes that
brought him to the Chiefs and made a run like this possible.
Three times Kansas City trailed by double-digits in the playoffs. That’s the end of the line for most teams. It was a definition Mahomes’ greatness and coach Andy Reid’s ways to tap into it for Kansas City.
For so much of Sunday, the conclusion was going to be old-school football was back. Run the ball like San Francisco. Play solid defense. Win the big game like they did in the 1970s.
Mahomes’ biggest plays were his with his legs, early on. Much of that was because San Francisco’s defensive line, and notably St. Thomas Aquinas grad Nick Bosa, had him on the run. If Mahomes’ biggest plays were running, that means the defense was winning.
Mahomes’ most notable play was the third-quarter interception he threw right at San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner. It came the play after Bosa swatted the ball out of Mahomes’ hands. Anxious?
That Mahomes interception was followed by the one by Moore on the next play.
“I tried to force some things and got intercepted,’’ Mahomes said. “That’s a really good defense — really good defense.”
San Francisco coach
Kyle Shanhan seemed to over-believe in that defense — or lack trust in his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. He had all his timeouts and didn’t use one when Kansas City faced a fourth down with about a minute and 50 seconds left in the first half. Even 49ers general manager John Lynch was shown furiously signaling for a timeout.
San Francisco got the ball at its 20-yard line with 59 seconds and ran the ball twice. Former Dolphins coach Joe Philbin had a word for that: Queasy. Didn’t Shanahan trust Garoppolo? Was he scared of Mahomes getting the ball back?
Either way, that’s not how you go about aggressively winning a big game — and those were points San Francisco could have used in the end. Instead, it was Mahomes who put on the cape and won the game.
He completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards, the two touchdowns and interceptions and a modest 78.1 rating. But he matched the big moment. He won the big game.
At 24, he has a first chapter to what could be coming.
“I’ve had a good start to my career,’’ Mahomes said. “I’m in a great organization with great players around me. But I know it’s going to take a long time with consistency if I’m going to end where I want to end.”
It ended Sunday with him rewriting the Super Bowl’s ending. The goat for three quarters became the hero when it mattered.