GLENDALE, Ariz. — One after another, the Kansas City Chiefs players trotted off the field Sunday at the midway point of Super Bowl LVII, an elongated halftime awaiting them. The roaring sound the Chiefs heard, many of them with their heads bowed, was a chorus of fans cheering for their opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, the favored contender who dominated much of the first 30 minutes. In the middle of the line of players was superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who jogged gingerly toward the locker room.
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For more than 17 minutes, many of the 67,827 fans inside State Farm Stadium stayed in their seats, marveling at the performance of Rihanna, the diva singer, as she entertained them with hit song after hit song.
During Rihanna’s performance, the Chiefs were forced to regroup and refocus. They needed to start yet another rally, one that would lead them to their second championship in a four-year stretch. One question filled the locker room: How would they start this comeback?
Establishing the final phase of the league’s newest dynasty — one that was celebrated with red, yellow and white confetti and the capture of another Vince Lombardi Trophy following their thrilling 38-35 victory — began with the Chiefs motivating, influencing and inspiring themselves.
“The first thing I said when we walked in the locker room was, ‘Damn, we’re down 10 points. We’ll be all right,’” defensive end Frank Clark said. “We’ve been down 10 points before this season and won the game, (held to) 14 points (in the first half) and won the game.”
One of the loudest speakers in the room was Travis Kelce, the superstar tight end who just three days earlier promised that he would handle the adverse moments of Sunday’s game as a leader better than he did the last time the Chiefs were on the NFL’s grandest stage, when they were bludgeoned by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV just two years ago.
“We need some energy!” Kelce shouted to his teammates. “Where is your fight?!”
The last player to speak before the second half began was Mahomes, who started the break getting more tape applied to his right ankle and foot just minutes after he re-aggravated his high ankle injury. Mahomes sensed that some of his teammates, many of them playing in their first Super Bowl, performed in the first half with a bit of emotional tightness.
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“Let’s leave it all out there for 30 minutes,” Mahomes said, “and see what happens.”
The collection of plays that unfolded led the Chiefs to produce perhaps the most remarkable comeback in the franchise’s history.
“It’s a whole other feeling to get two (titles),” Kelce said after leading the Chiefs with 81 receiving yards, including an 18-yard touchdown catch. “I wanted this one more than I ever wanted a game in my life. It solidifies your greatness. You didn’t get lucky once. You can call it a dynasty.”
Before Sunday’s game, just one team in Super Bowl history, the 2016 New England Patriots — the league’s most recent dynastic franchise — had rallied from a deficit of 10 or more points at halftime to become champions. Despite playing through pain, Mahomes orchestrated another postseason comeback, this time with a performance that was as astounding as it was remarkable, one that will forever secure his legacy as one of the league’s greatest quarterbacks.
“I feel like I play better when we are down,” Mahomes said, smiling. “You’ll look back on these games for the rest of your life. It gives you a greater appreciation to be standing here as a champion. I thought the first Super Bowl was kind of like, ‘Oh, this is amazing.’ It’s like a little kid winning that prize at the fair. This one, you’ve dealt with failure. You understand how hard it is to get back on this stage and to win the game.
“I had to become a better leader. I’ve always talked, but I had to take a next step in my leadership of how I showed guys how we worked, how I couldn’t let the little stuff slide because we have such great players around me who have done it for so long. I had to teach the culture that we have here, that I learned from (former quarterback) Alex Smith and (former linebacker) Derrick Johnson.”
2x Super Bowl Champion
2x Super Bowl MVP
2x NFL MVP
5x Pro Bowler
3x All-Pro
1x OPOYHall of Famer? @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/9v8gPrDzMZ
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Mahomes was flawless in the final two quarters, executing smart decisions, short completions and preventing negative plays to outwit the Eagles defense. He earned the game’s MVP award by accounting for 226 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns without committing a turnover.
“He grew up in a locker room,” coach Andy Reid said of Mahomes, whose father, Pat, pitched in the major leagues for 11 seasons. “He’s seen the greats. He strives to be the greatest. Without saying anything, that’s the way he works. He wants to be the greatest player ever. When it’s time for the guys around him to raise their game, he helps them with that. The great quarterbacks make everybody around them better, including the head coach.”
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Reid and his trio of coordinators — Eric Bieniemy (offensive), Steve Spagnuolo (defensive) and Dave Toub (special teams) — did their part, too. They made adjustments and revealed their best tactics in the second half to out-scheme an intelligent Eagles coaching staff led by head coach Nick Sirianni. Although they trailed by 10 points, Reid and Bieniemy didn’t put the entire burden of the Chiefs’ offensive production on Mahomes’ shoulders — or his right ankle. Instead, the Chiefs ran the ball more times (19) in the second half than Mahomes dropped back to pass (14). The Chiefs finished their opening drive of the third quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Isiah Pacheco.
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Known for his plethora of blitz schemes, Spagnuolo made what proved to be a wise decision: He cut back on sending extra defenders at star quarterback Jalen Hurts. Superstar defensive tackle Chris Jones, the league’s best interior pass rusher, and defensive ends such as Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap pressured Hurts enough to scramble out of the pocket, disrupting the Eagles’ passing attack. That’s when linebackers Nick Bolton, Willie Gay and rookie Leo Chenal were instrumental. The trio combined for 23 tackles, three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, a sack and a pivotal fumble recovery from Bolton in the first half that he returned for a 36-yard touchdown. It was the game’s lone turnover.
Spagnuolo’s best blitz, on a third-down play in which an unblocked Gay generated immediate pressure on Hurts, led to the only punt of the second half.
“We knew the offense was going to get going,” Bolton said. “Their offensive line is great, so you can’t just pressure all day. We were mixing it up, just trying to find ways to make some plays.”
Part of the Chiefs’ preparation for the game involved Toub’s desire to be aggressive, especially on a punt return, even though his unit had struggled with such a task for much of the season. Toub emphasized to his players, in particular returner Kadarius Toney, that no team in Super Bowl history had ever had a momentum-swinging punt return. Known for his dynamic elusiveness in the open field, Toney made one of the game’s biggest highlights when he made multiple Eagles whiff at tackling him while returning a line-drive punt by Arryn Siposs for a 65-yard gain, the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.
How did Toney break out of this?!
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— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
“The environment is just life-changing,” said Toney, who joined the Chiefs midway through the season via a trade with the New York Giants. “Just the energy you feel in the building, it’s different. It makes you want to go out there and be the best player you can be. I’m surrounded by the MVP, the top tight end in the league. I’m just trying to fit in and be the best player that I can be.”
Inside the red zone, the Chiefs exploited a weakness in the Eagles’ secondary that they discovered while studying the tendencies of their cornerbacks. Reid gave credit to Bieniemy, who built part of the Chiefs’ game plan by having multiple receivers run jet motion across the formation throughout the game to set up the two critical plays.
Early in the fourth quarter, Toney started his jet motion, which led cornerback Darius Slay to move toward the middle of the field. But when Toney reversed his motion, running his route toward the flat area of the field, he was wide open for a 5-yard touchdown catch.
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The Chiefs ended their next drive with a different variation of the play, as rookie Skyy Moore caught an easy 4-yard touchdown pass when cornerback James Bradberry made the same mistake. When Mahomes’ pass arrived, Moore had 13.1 yards of separation from the nearest defender, according to Next Gen Stats.
The @Chiefs climb all the way back! INCREDIBLE.
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— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
“He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time,” Mahomes said of Reid, who became just the 14th coach to earn multiple Super Bowl rings. “I think everybody knew that, but these last two Super Bowls kind of cemented that. It’s great that we did that.”
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With five minutes left and the game tied at 35, the Chiefs began their final drive of the season, a 12-play journey in which they traversed 66 yards. Mahomes completed intermediate passes to Kelce and receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. Pacheco bounced off multiple defenders for 17 rushing yards. The drive’s most significant play was a byproduct of Mahomes’ legs. Just before the two-minute warning, he scrambled up the middle of the field for 26 yards, his longest rush of the season.
Fighting for every inch. @PatrickMahomes
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— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
“Pat is a once-in-a-generation, lifetime type of player, man,” Jones said. “Sometimes he does things so special that it becomes a normality for him. We’ve got to just appreciate Pat.”
From his perspective, Mahomes explained that one major reason the Chiefs were victorious was because of their offensive line.
Mahomes was indeed supported by a stout offensive line — featuring star left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., star left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Andrew Wylie — that didn’t allow a single sack against an Eagles defense that led the league in sacks (70) in the regular season. Entering the game, the Eagles had sacked opponents at the highest rate of any team since at least 2000, according to TruMedia.
“I thought our guys did a hell of a job of keeping (Mahomes) upright,” Bieniemy said while praising the O-line’s physical and mental toughness. “It was the backs and tight ends chipping. We wanted to make sure that we gave those guys the respect they deserved. Schematically, I thought we just did a great job of taking care of the quarterback.”
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General manager Brett Veach put the offensive linemen together two years ago after the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown in their Super Bowl LV blowout loss to the Buccaneers in large part because of the poor play of the makeshift offensive line. Brown, who played the season on the franchise tag, was stellar against star defensive end Brandon Graham. Wylie, who began his career as a guard, was excellent against superstar outside linebacker Haason Reddick. The interior linemen created running lanes for Pacheco and running back Jerick McKinnon to combine for 110 rushing yards.
“We just executed and did our job to the highest of levels,” Brown told The Athletic. “It was all so worth it, man. Zero sacks! Tell them to put it on a f—— T-shirt!”
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The game-winning points were scored by kicker Harrison Butker, who made a 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left to play.
HARRISON BUTKER FOR THE LEAD 💥
THE CHIEFS ARE UP 38-35 WITH EIGHT SECONDS TO GO.
🎥 @Chiefs | pic.twitter.com/lUuRpvT7zH
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 13, 2023
“It’s just very surreal having won a second Super Bowl in six seasons and for it to come down to a field goal,” said Butker, who, in a matter-of-fact tone, acknowledged that the Chiefs indeed qualify as a dynasty. “Three Super Bowls appearances in four years and two rings.”
When the final play ended, on a desperation deep pass from Hurts that fell incomplete, Reid shouted with joy when he felt the sensation every coach dreams of experiencing at the end of a Super Bowl: a cold Gatorade bath, this time administered by Moore and Pacheco.
“We looked at JuJu and were like, ‘It’s rookie duty today,’” Pacheco said, smiling. “I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.”
In the midst of their celebration, as players kissed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, smoked a cigar or hugged one another, a phrase was repeated throughout the locker room, whether it was from core veterans — Mahomes, Kelce, Jones, Clark and Butker — or rookies such as Pacheco: We’re going to be back.
Reid, at age 64, excited his players, too, by squashing a rumor that developed earlier in the day that suggested he was contemplating retirement.
Trav and Big Red. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/S2xwXDeVnl
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
“Like (Reid) said, we’re not done,” Mahomes said. “I’m going to have him around here for a little bit longer at least. We feel like the job’s not finished.”
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After predicting the Chiefs would become a dynasty after their win in Super Bowl LIV, Jones stressed the importance of the franchise continuing its supremacy by retaining the services of players such as Clark, Brown and Smith-Schuster, all of whom are set to become unrestricted free agents.
“The core here is special, man,” Jones said. “This is probably the most unselfish group that I’ve been a part of. I’m so grateful. I definitely feel we can be in position to compete again for another one. We keep this core together, I think we can be very, very special.”
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Kelce, with tears welling in his eyes, reflected on the Chiefs’ season before taking off his shoulder pads and jersey, equipment he will not wear again until training camp. Kelce commended the rookies for their rapid growth, from training camp through the Super Bowl. He expressed his love for the veteran receivers — Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson — who joined the Chiefs and began working with Mahomes in April, their first repetitions occurring without any coaches on high school fields in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Kelce then thanked his defensive teammates for their important contributions. He glorified Reid for his coaching wisdom.
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The Chiefs, Kelce said, proved to themselves that their ability to focus and play harder for one another was one of the greatest qualities that led them to finish their redemptive season with triumph.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world, being here with the guys we did it with, and the coaches we did it with, through all the adversity,” he said. “All I know is that we’re coming back next year with the right mindset on trying to get another one.”
(Photo of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid: Michael Owens / Getty Images)