GLENDALE, Arizona. – Patrick Mahomes proved why he is the NFL’s Most Valuable Player as he shrugged off an ankle injury to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a dramatic 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (Monday in Manila) to claim their second Super Bowl in four years.
Kansas City’s hopes of returning home with the Lombardi Trophy looked bleak late in the opening half when quarterback Mahomes appeared to re-injure the right ankle that had been a major worry coming into the game.
Grimacing in pain after a tackle, Mahomes hobbled off the field and slammed his helmet to the turf as the Chiefs headed into halftime trailing 24-14.
But when the teams returned after the break a resilient Mahomes produced a heroic effort, tossing two fourth-quarter touchdowns and engineering a final drive to set up Harrison Butker’s 27-yard game-winning field goal with eight seconds to play.Mahomes, who also threw for a touchdown in the first half, had a total of 21 completions for 182 yards and rushed for 44-yards.
“I told you all this week there was nothing going to keep me off this football field,” said Mahomes after accepting the Super Bowl MVP award to go along with the NFL MVP honor he received on Thursday (Friday in Manila).
“It’s the Super Bowl, you can worry about getting healthy in the off-season.
“I fought through, and we were able to win,”
There could be no better end to the NFL season than a championship game featuring the two teams with the best records and two dynamic young leaders in Mahomes and the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts – the first two Black quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl.
It was the type of intriguing matchup that drew a Who’s Who of industry, entertainment and sports to suburban Phoenix, with Elon Musk, Paul McCartney and LeBron James among the capacity crowd of 67,827.
Mahomes’ play against the NFL’s top-ranked defense was worth the price of admission alone, even if tickets were going for $3,200 on resale sites. — Reuters
