The Kansas City Chiefs are the Super Bowl 58 Champions, they are the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots did it back in 2003-2004. The Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime 25-22, with a game winning touchdown catch to Mecole Hardman. This is the Chiefs third Super Bowl win since 2020, led by Quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
This season for Kansas City was a challenging year for them with many thinking that they had no chance to repeat many times during the season. Most people wrote off Kansas City as the playoffs were starting yet here we are with them being back to back champions.
The lowest point of the season for the Chiefs was on Christmas day when they lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. The loss was stunning at the moment due to where the Raiders were heading at that point of the season. People thought that with this loss it just wasn’t the Chiefs year and that some other team like San Francisco or Baltimore were the frontrunners to win it all.
Yet this game served as the wake up call for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to get it together for the postseason.
Mahomes and the Chiefs were underdogs in every single game in their playoff run this season. Fans and bettors alike all felt that Kansas City was not explosive enough to keep up against the teams they were facing in the playoffs. Mahomes and Chiefs were playing a different brand of football than they have been known for in this generation. The Chiefs were a slow and methodical team who controlled the ball with long drives and a physical hard nosed defense.
The road to the championship started with a home match against the young but hurt Miami Dolphins, then they fought in Buffalo against the rival Bills to reach the conference championship. Kansas City then stunned the red hot Baltimore Ravens in their home stadium to advance to Super Bowl 58.
Kansas City after beating Lamar Jackson and the Raven booked their ticket to Las Vegas to have a rematch with the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs beat the 49ers back in 2020 who were led by head coach Kyle Shanahan. This was Shanahan’s third visit to the big dance looking for his first victory. Unfortunately for him this is the third time in his career his team led with 10 or more points and lost in the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl 58 was an exciting physical match between both teams respectively. Both teams’ defenses within the trenches and in their secondary made it difficult for teams to move up and down the field. Skills position players had a difficult time getting separation down field for most of the game. The quarterbacks also were constantly under pressure from either defenses’ ferocious pass rush.
San Francisco’s ability to run the football and get touches for Christian McCaffery was key in their ability to gain the lead in the first half of the game. The 49ers rushing attack in the second half was slowed down by the Chiefs defense which in turn made San Francisco’s offense look more dimensional than it did in the first half. The 49ers were outscored 16 to 9 in the second half of the game, this led to Overtime for Super Bowl 58.
San Francisco won the overtime coin toss and took the ball first with the new overtime rules in place. The new rules gave both teams the opportunity to get the ball in the overtime period. With the 49ers first drive they got within the red zone but were unable to score a touchdown to create a seven point lead. They had to settle with three points and give Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs a chance to win it all in overtime. Kansas City drove 75 yards down the field in an eventful drive in order to win in overtime against the 49ers. The game winning play was a short pass to the right corner of the endzone and the Chiefs called it the “Corndog” play.
Patrick Mahomes now has three championship titles within his six years of starting for the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite all of the challenges and doubt within the Chiefs season they found a way to persevere when it mattered most this season. Kansas City is now looking to be the first team in NFL history to three-peat within the modern era.
