Super Rally: Mahomes, Chiefs NFL champs after a late surge
Hundreds of thousands of Kansas City Chiefs fans braved sub-freezing wind chills on Wednesday to celebrate the team’s first Super Bowl victory in 50 years, and if Coach Andy Reid is to be believed, they’ll be back for an encore next year.
Fans lined the 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) parade route to thank their football heroes for bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to Kansas City and ending a Super Bowl drought that began after the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV in 1970.
Reid thanked the fans for their continued support and for attending the parade.
“Next year, we’re coming right back here,” Reid said in a brief speech. “One more time baby, one more time.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Super Bowl MVP who has captured the fans’ devotion in only his third NFL season, struggled with a strained voice but said the championship fulfilled two goals he set when he became the team’s starter.
First, he said, he wanted to bring the Lamar Hunt trophy for winning the AFC championship back to Kansas City. The late Lamar Hunt and the Hunt family founded the team as the Dallas Texans in 1960 before moving the team to Kansas City in 1963 and changing the name.
“The second most important thing I wanted to do was get the Lombardi Trophy for the greatest coach of all time, Andy Reid,” he said.
Hunt’s son, Clark Hunt, said his father told him before he died in 2006 that the parade and celebration after the 1970 Super Bowl was the best day of his life because of the joy of the fans.
“Thank you for giving my dad and I some the best days of our lives,” he told the fans. “We love you.”
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Patrick Mahomes needed just the waning minutes of Super Bowl 54 to end a whole lot of frustration.
A championship 50 years in the making for the Kansas City Chiefs.
A two-decade wait for an NFL title for coach Andy Reid.
All it took was falling behind by double digits in the postseason, again. Then Mahomes found his mojo. The 24-year-old quarterback who was selected Super Bowl MVP, led the Chiefs to 21 straight points in the final 6:13 for a 3120 victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers.
“We never lost faith,” Mahomes said. “That’s the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down. We believed in each other. That’s what we preached all year long.”
The Chiefs (15-4) trailed 24-0 and 17-7 in their previous playoff games, both in the first half. In the big game, they nearly didn’t have time for a comeback.
Kansas City’s fans in the crowd of 62,417 at Hard Rock Stadium got little opportunity to chant and do the tomahawk chop as KC fell behind 20-10 in the third quarter. Mahomes even threw his second interception of the night after they fell behind.
But the vaunted 49ers defense wilted late and Mahomes brought the magic that makes him so special.
He completed passes of 44 yards to Tyreek Hill and 38 to Sammy Watkins. The touchdowns came on short throws to Travis Kelce to cut the deficit to three and to Damien Williams for the lead. The first NFL title in Reid’s two-decade career was clinched by Williams’ 38-yard TD run, sending red-clad Chiefs fans into chants of “Andy!” Andy!”
Reid, 61, won a Super Bowl ring with the 1996 Packers while in charge of tight ends. He’s been seeking one as a head coach since being hired by Philadelphia in 1999. The Eagles lost in their only trip to the big game under Reid after the 2004 season.
“This is what it’s all about,” Reid said as confetti fell and the Chiefs celebrated the climax of the NFL’s 100th season. “What a great team, great coaches. Appreciate every bit of it.”
San Francisco (15-4) had nothing left in the fourth quarter, and its coach, Kyle Shanahan saw yet another late-game meltdown by his team. Three years ago, as offensive coordinator in Atlanta, he was part of the Falcons’ Super Bowl collapse and loss in overtime to New England.
“We’ll lick our wounds and we’ll get over this,” Shanahan said.