Texas native Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs got the best of fellow Texas native Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles with a 38-35 win in Super Bowl LVII.
Both quarterbacks made headlines leading up to the game as the first Texas high school quarterbacks to face each other in the Super Bowl and the two frontrunners for the league’s regular season Most Valuable Player award.
And both showed up on Sunday night.
Mahomes only threw for 182 yards in his third career Super Bowl appearance but made the plays when his team needed him the most on his way to his second career title and a second Super Bowl MVP.
“We had to win this one right here,” Mahomes said, as he and coach Andy Reid joined the NFL Network set after the game.
“I mean, Coach Reid did so many great things for the Eagles, and to be in this big game, I know he has a ton of respect for everybody still over there, but we had to win this game for Coach Reid.”
“I’m gonna keep him around a little bit longer. We’re gonna go for some more of these things,” Mahomes added, hinting at recent speculation that Reid would soon retire.
Hurts threw for 304 yards and a touchdown and tied the Super Bowl record for rushing touchdowns with three, which also broke the record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in one Super Bowl.
His lone mistake was a second-quarter fumble that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown that tied the game at 14 by Frisco Lone Star High School alum Nick Bolton. Philadelphia settled down after the turnover and scored 10 points in the final 2:20 of the half to take a 24-14 lead at the break.
“Jalen Hurts, clearly, as far as I’m concerned, he had a better game,” ESPN’s Stephen A Smith said on First Take on Monday. “He was absolutely sensational. I was really, really proud of him. [I felt] very bad for him because the ball just slipped out of his hand.”
“Now, we can’t ignore the fact that that gave Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs seven points, and they won by three,” Smith continued. “… Even though it was early in the game, the fact of the matter is, that’s what happened. But that is literally the only thing he did wrong.”
“If there was any doubters left, there should be none now,” Mahomes said of his counterpart after the game, according to Pro Football Focus.
Kansas City took the lead early in the fourth quarter on a short touchdown pass after the longest punt return in Super Bowl history gave the Chiefs the ball deep in Philadelphia territory.
After Philadelphia tied the game at 35, Kansas City quickly drove down the field and faced a third-and-eight from the Eagles’ 15-yard line.
Mahomes’ pass sailed incomplete, but a holding penalty was called on Eagles cornerback James Bradberry, giving the Chiefs a first down and allowing them to run down the clock.
The call prompted many to criticize the league and its officiating, including Fox broadcasters Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen.
Still, Eagles players are taking accountability for the loss.
“It was a holding,” Bradberry admitted after the game, NFL reporter Mike Giardi tweeted. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”
“The refs are going to make the call in the moment of the game and that one right there — that stung a little bit,” defensive end Brandon Graham told reporters after the game, according to Yahoo Sports. “But we shouldn’t even have put ourself in that position.”
After the Chiefs’ offense ran the clock down, kicker Harrison Butker converted on a 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give the Chiefs their second title in the last four years.