By Brandon Simmons
The Kansas City Chiefs have pulled off another postseason comeback to become Super Bowl LIV champs over the San Francisco 49ers. It was a hard-fought battle between both teams, that pushed them to their limits of what they liked to do gameplan-wise. In the end, Kansas City rose above the adversity of being out of their comfort zone and comfortably got to the trophy.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes played like a true MVP in this game. After falling 3-0, he led Kansas City to its first TD of the game by finding his playmakers of tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. On that drive, on 3rd and 11 in the red zone, Mahomes scrambled for the first down that set up a TD run by running back Damien Williams. He led the Chiefs to a field goal on the next possession but was quiet up until the 4th quarter, which put the team down 20-10. A lot of the mishaps with this deficit can be attributed to the Chiefs unable to stop the run and suffering to the play action; but things would change in the middle of the 4th quarter. After beginning the quarter with his 2nd interception of the night, he came back to make plays with his feet and arm. On the first touchdown drive in the 4th, Mahomes runs for a first down. A few plays later on 3rd and 15, he launches a 44 yard pass to Hill, putting Kansas City closer to the end zone. A pass interference call puts KC at the 1 and sets up a TD pass to Kelce to make the score 20-17. After the Chiefs defense get a 3 and out, Mahomes leads another TD drive. This time, wide receiver Sammy Watkins was the beneficiary of a 38 yard catch to put the Chiefs on the 49ers 10 yard line, which set up a TD pass to Williams.
For the 49ers they were hopeful to have had this game but fell apart in the 4th quarter. They opened the game up with a 3 and out and put the first points of the game on the board. After falling 10-3, they were able to score 17 straight points, and not just behind running back Raheem Mostert. Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo Had his best passing game of the postseason going 20/31 for 219 yards and a touchdown but also threw 2 picks. His play action passing was able to freeze the Kansas City defenders long enough to get the receivers open for big plays. This was due in large part to them establishing the run enough to warrant some fear. The defense was as good as advertised, especially the d-line. They had 4 sacks tonight, including 1.5 by Deforest Buckner. The top ranked pass defense also showed up for some key plays as they forced 2 picks out of Mahomes. Still, despite them living up to their “advertising” they just could not make sale. In that 4th quarter, the Niners defense gave up big plays on back-to-back drives which set up touchdowns. The offense was not better going for a 3 and out.
The Chiefs overcame a 10 point deficit, but there’s some room for sharing the praise outside of the quarterback position. Chiefs RB Damien Williams played a solid role for this team all night. He wasn’t a huge gainer on a lot of his runs but a few of them converted some 3rd downs to keep the drives alive and he had a TD run. Without those 3rd down conversions, the Chiefs are probably staring at a deficit too big for them to even overcome. Not only did he provide stability with the ground game, he caught some passes as well, including the TD to put the Chiefs ahead 24-20 in the 4th quarter. The defense gave up over 100 yards rushing – which was probably expected – but they did not give up too many big plays. Sure, Jimmy G had a passing day better than his 2 previous outings, but he also threw 2 crucial picks. The first one came in the beginning of the 2nd quarter by Chiefs cornerback Bashaud Breeland, which turned into a field goal. The next came in the 4th quarter by Chiefs CB Kendall Fuller to seal the game.
It was real easy to say the 49ers would win coming into this game because how complete they were as a team; but I knew that Kansas City Chiefs had the potential to be better in this game. The Kansas City Chiefs played amazing overall, but Mahomes does deserve majority of the credit, hence why he earned Super Bowl MVP. It was his arm that made these big plays to put the Chiefs in or around the red zone to score touchdowns. Not only was his arm talent dynamic, but his attitude against adversity was something to aspire to. He did throw for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he also had 2 interceptions at the worst possible time. His first pick became a Niners’ touchdown drive; his 2nd pick was at the top of the 4th quarter when his team was down by 10. That did not deter him from going out and competing at a high level to win this game. Not only did he scramble, but he dove for first down and took some huge hits. His movement out of the pocket eluded the strong 49ers pass rush which was breathing on him relentlessly. The Chiefs had the better QB and were able to access that matchup, so it can be exploited. This team has been down before in these playoffs; in fact they have faced huge deficits all postseason. But in every game, they still managed to stay in it. Credit to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, and offensive coordinator Erc Bienemy, who dialed up the deep passes at the right time. The Niners were ready for whatever long distance plays that Kansas City had ready to implement for Hill but eventully got worn down. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also drew up plays to stop the run first and pass 2nd. Complete championship effort all around.
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