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Patrick Mahomes lifts Chiefs to first Super Bowl in 50 years ADAM TEICHER ESPN Staff Writer Mahomes leads Chiefs into the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes throws for 294 yards and three touchdown passes while also adding a score using his legs as the Chiefs defeat the Titans 35-24 to advance to Super Bowl LIV. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The last time the Kansas City Chiefs played in the Super Bowl, in 1970, Andy Reid was 11 and Patrick Mahomes was 25 years from being born. The Chiefs will finally return to the Super Bowl, 50 years after beating the Minnesota Vikings for their only NFL championship. This time, they will be coached by Reid and quarterbacked by Mahomes after their 35-24 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy, given annually to the AFC champions. The trophy is named for his late father, who founded the Chiefs. The Chiefs' Super Bowl championship in 1970 came when they were members of the old AFL, which was in its final season. This is the Chiefs' first AFC championship and thus the first time they've won the trophy bearing their founder's name. Most of the time since their last Super Bowl appearance, the Chiefs often seemed without a coherent plan. In the six seasons from 2007 through 2012, the year before Reid took over, the Chiefs lost 14 games in a season twice and 12 games twice. "The journey is a big part of it,'' Hunt said. "We're going to celebrate tonight and it's going to be tremendous. But it wouldn't be what it is without the hardship, without all the hard work that went into getting us here. Yeah, 50 years is too long but we're going to Miami and we've got a chance to win another Super Bowl.'' Mahomes was as usual the key figure for the Chiefs. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns.
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His running was as big a factor. Mahomes led the Chiefs with 53 rushing yards on eight carries. He scored a 27yard touchdown that gave the Chiefs their first lead at 21-17 late in the first half. The Chiefs traded up to draft Mahomes in the first round in 2017. He became a starter last season and took the Chiefs to their first AFC Championship Game in 25 years last season. "Playing at Texas Tech, I put up a lot of stats but we didn't win a lot of football games,'' Mahomes said. "I knew going into the NFL I was going to do whatever it took just to win games.'' Mahomes and the Chiefs put Reid in the second Super Bowl of his career. He coached the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl after the 2004 season. The Eagles lost to the New England Patriots. The Chiefs made the playoffs in six of their seven seasons under Reid but were 1-4 in the first four postseason appearances. "It takes an army,'' Reid said, deflecting credit for the Chiefs' success this postseason. "It's not one guy at all.'' The Titans jumped to double-digit leads twice in the first half. But after taking a 17-7 advantage in the first half, they didn't score again until just more than four minutes remained. The Chiefs held Titans running back Derrick Henry to 69 yards. He had 188 yards and two touchdowns against the Chiefs in a Week 10 victory. They opened a 35-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. At that point, the wait to collect the Lamar Hunt Trophy seemed to take forever. "I feel the last quarter took about three hours,'' general manager Brett Veach said. "It's all worth it in the end to see Clark hold that trophy up with his father's name on it.''
It has come down to the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV to punctuate the 201920 NFL season. The Chiefs started by hosting the sixth-seeded Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game. The Titans, having already upset the reigning champion New England Patriots and top-seeded Baltimore Ravens, looked solid in the first quarter behind regular-season rushing champion Derrick Henry. The Chiefs roared back and took control of the game, the turning point coming with a Patrick Mahomes 27-yard touchdown scramble:
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Kansas City didn't relent from there and secured a 35-24 victory to advance to the franchise's first Super Bowl in 50 years. The NFC Championship Game served as an anticlimactic encore as the top-seeded Niners took care of the visiting No. 2 Green Bay Packers 37-20 behind running back Raheem Mostert's 220 yards and four touchdowns. San Francisco's defense forced three turnovers and neutralized All-Pro Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Information surrounding the Chiefs-49ers matchup, including a look at each team's road to Super Bowl LIV this season, is below:
Game Information Date: Sunday, Feb. 2 Kickoff Time: 6:30 p.m. ET Location: Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Watch: FOX
Kansas City Chiefs The Chiefs fell painfully short of the Super Bowl last season, losing 37-31 in overtime to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. This year, Kansas City will make its first Super Bowl trip since Super Bowl IV during the 1969 postseason. It looked bleak when the Houston Texans jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the divisional round, but the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs roared back to historically take a 28-24 lead into halftime and defeat the Texans 51-31: Per the NFL Research the #Chiefs are the first team in NFL history, regular season or playoffs, to trail by 24+ points in the first half and be tied or leading entering halftime. The Tennessee Titans followed Houston's blueprint, leading by 10 on two different occasions in the first half. Mahomes and the Chiefs charged back (again), while the defense held Henry to 69 yards and one touchdown. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is the winningest coach without a Super Bowl ring or NFL championship in history, per NFL Research, and has long been tagged as an offensive mastermind, but Mahomes makes the execution of it all possible. Kansas City's entire season was nearly derailed when Mahomes was hobbled with an ankle ailment before the reigning league MVP went down with a dislocated kneecap in Week 7 that cost him two games. The Chiefs lost a 35-32 thriller in Tennessee in Week 10, Mahomes' first game back, and have not lost since. As excellent as the K.C. offense is, the defense improved drastically under first-year coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Defensive end Frank Clark has been disruptive with four sacks this postseason, while safety Tyrann Mathieu has affected how the entire unit operates. Page 4 of 8
The 49ers defense has a tall task looming in Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. But given the way the Niners bottled up Rodgers and the Packers in the NFC title game, the Super Bowl's X-factor could be whether the Chiefs defense can mirror San Francisco's dominance defensively. San Francisco 49ers The top-seeded 49ers were led by their defense for the majority of this season. The unit was ranked first overall in passing defense and second in total defense to compensate for a 17th-ranked rushing defense in the regular season. That dominance was only enhanced once the postseason hit. Just ask the Minnesota Vikings, who fell 27-10 in the divisional round: The Niners defense has been led by rookie defensive end Nick Bosa, whose impact was detailed by Josh Dubow of the Associated Press on Jan. 15: "Nick Bosa was dominant as a rookie as well after being picked second overall last spring. His nine sacks were the fourth most ever for a 49ers rookie, and he ranked third in the NFL with 68 quarterback pressures, according to SportsInfo Solutions, trailing only Cameron Jordan and Danielle Hunter. "... The Niners also made some schematic changes this season under new defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, lining up the defensive ends out wider than in the past to create better angles to get to the quarterback and more 1-on-1 matchups. "It has worked as advertised as the 49ers increased their sack total in the regular season from 36 to 48 and went from a record-low seven takeaways to 27 in large part because of the improved pass rush." That pass rush will be crucial against Mahomes: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was solid throughout the regular season but only needed to throw the ball eight times for 77 yards in the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers offense is threatening because of tight end George Kittle. The 26-year-old was the team's only 1,000-yard receiver and also led the way with five touchdown catches. Kittle impacted the running game against Green Bay, though he did not record his only catch until midway through the fourth: The Niners will need Mostert to repeat his title-game performance and for Kittle to be involved in the passing game to keep pace with the Chiefs' high-flying attack in what seems likely to be a shootout of a Super Bowl.
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Mark J. Rebilas Last Thursday, days before the Kansas City Chiefs took the field against the Tennessee Titans, Andy Reid was pressed about the championship that has eluded him since becoming a head coach 21 years ago. “Listen, you’ve known me for a long time,” said Reid. “I think more about the players than I am sitting here thinking about myself and all of that. That’s not where I go. I try to get the guys ready. I try to make sure that I’m ready and then go play. I don’t look at it that way. I look more at the disappointment for the other teams that I’ve been able to coach and how those kids felt, because they worked their tails off for that amount of time, and the other coaches.” Reid’s been down to the final four seven times in his career, including this past weekend. But only one other time has Reid won the conference title game — and in that year, 2004-05 — his Philadelphia Eagles lost Super Bowl XXXIX to the New England Patriots. In Reid’s perfect world, there would be no Google — no history books to reference, no outside analysis for his players to see. But that is not what’s real, and after the Chiefs’ 35-24 conference title win on Sunday night, their awareness of that sole blemish on his Pro Football Hall of Fame career never seemed more prevalent. “I love coach Reid,” said tight end Travis Kelce after the game. “He is definitely a part of the motivation. We are sick of hearing what the media says about him and how he can’t get the big one done. You know what? We knocked a big one off the list. We got the Lamar Hunt trophy back here in Kansas City for the Hunt family. We still have one more goal to knock off the list.” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt noted Reid’s emphasis on the trophy in his post-game press conference. “Andy was very nice to mention how happy he was to win this for our family,” said Hunt. “I think the same is true for us. We’re just as happy for Andy in having a chance to win a Super Page 7 of 8
Bowl. He’s one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NFL. He is without a doubt a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s going to get to go to his second Super Bowl and hopefully get a victory this time. As a family, we’re as excited for him to get this opportunity as he is to give this trophy to us.” The turning point of Sunday’s game came when quarterback Patrick Mahomes rolled out to his left, dashed up the field for 27 yards, shaking four Titans in the process. The end of the play called for Mahomes to barrel in the end zone, and the Chiefs took a lead they never relinquished. Injuries hampered Mahomes throughout 2019, and he even missed two games with a dislocated kneecap. But did Reid tell Mahomes to slide on the play? “No. he didn’t,” Mahomes said. “I think that’s the best thing about playing for coach Reid, he lets you be who you are. He lets you go out there and really play the way you want to play as long as it’s according to the guidelines of how to play the quarterback position. He lets you be who you are.” “I think he’s a great coach and he’s all about his players and the team,” added safety Tyrann Mathieu, who has become the defensive leader for the Chiefs this season. “Most importantly, he allows us to be ourselves. He’s not restricting us from our personalities, and I think that has a lot to do with us fighting through adversity and believing in ourselves. After the game on Sunday, some players had the reaction of many of the team’s fans — they understood they won the football game, but that fact truly sinking in has been a process. “I don’t even think it has hit me yet — it hasn’t even hit me,” said linebacker Reggie Ragland. “I’m excited. I don’t think it’s going to hit me until I walk in that tunnel and all of those lights are flashing (at the Super Bowl). I’m excited. I’m going to enjoy this for 24 hours and then it is time to get back to work. I’m excited for everybody.” Then, unprompted... “Coach Reid doesn’t have one, so we have to go out there and bust our butts and get one for him.”
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