Eagles come up short in Super Bowl; Chiefs win second title under Andy Reid

Kansas City rallies in second half for second NFL title in four years

• The Associated Press
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  The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are the winners of Super Bowl 57.

Mahomes — hobbling around on a hurt ankle — led the Chiefs downfield for the winning drive that was capped by Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, sealing a 38-35 victory.

The Eagles took the ensuing kickoff but there would be no miracle. Jalen Hurts’ desperation heave on the final play fell way short of the end zone, and the Chiefs’ celebration began.

The Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons. They beat the 49ers following the 2019 season before losing to the Buccaneers after 2020. This time, they trailed for most of the evening before rallying in the second half to beat the Eagles.

“He’s the MVP,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said about Mahomes. “That’s all that needs to be said. MVP. And you saw it tonight.”

It’s a tough loss for Philadelphia, which got a great performance from quarterback Jalen Hurts, who threw for 304 yards and ran for three touchdowns.

Mahomes, who was named the AP NFL MVP on Thursday, threw for three touchdowns. The Chiefs overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and never led until taking a 28-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles tied the game at 35 with 5:15 remaining when Hurts scored his third rushing touchdown of the night on a 2-yard run. The quarterback then also ran for the crucial 2-point conversion that tied the game.

Kansas City’s Kadarius Toney turned in a crucial play for Kansas City early in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs forced the Eagles to punt and Toney was there to catch it, breaking a few tackles before reversing field, where he had a convoy of Chiefs players waiting to provide blocking.

Toney made it 65 yards, all the way down to the Eagles 5-yard line, before getting knocked out of bounds. Three plays later, Mahomes hit a wide open Skyy Moore for a 4-yard touchdown and a 35-27 lead.

Toney also had the touchdown catch that put the Chiefs ahead 28-27 earlier in the fourth.

The Eagles had a 27-21 lead in the Super Bowl as the game moved to the fourth quarter.

The Eagles had a 24-14 halftime lead, but the Chiefs responded with a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter to pull within 24-21. Philadelphia pushed ahead 27-21 with 1:45 left in the third after Jake Elliott made a 33-yard field goal.

Mahomes led his team on a touchdown drive to open the third quarter. Isiah Pacheco ran for a 1-yard score to cut the Eagles’ lead to 24-21 with 9:30 left in the third quarter.

Mahomes appeared to re-aggravate a right ankle injury in the first half, limping off the field late in the second quarter. The injury has been bothering him throughout most of the playoffs.

Mahomes even ran for 14 yards on one play on the Chiefs’ scoring drive, though it was obvious he wasn’t moving quite as well as usual.

The first half was an action-packed doozy as the Eagles took a 24-14 lead.

Elliott made a 35-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer to put the Eagles up by 10.

Hurts ran for two touchdowns in the first half and also connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown.

Hurts made up for a costly mistake earlier in the second quarter with his second rushing touchdown of the evening a few minutes later.

Hurts ran 4 yards for the touchdown and a 21-14 lead as the pro-Eagles crowd chanted “MVP! MVP!” Hurts was the AP NFL MVP runner-up to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes.

A few minutes before his TD, Hurts fumbled around midfield and Kansas City’s Nick Bolton recovered the fumble and ran it 36 yards for a touchdown, which tied the game at 14.

On the first play of the second quarter, Hurts lofted a 45-yard throw toward the end zone. Brown outmaneuvered the scrambling Kansas City defense before catching the ball and then raising his arms to flex his muscles.
The Eagles led 14-7.

The teams were tied at 7 after the first quarter. They exchanged touchdowns on their opening offensive drives.

Kansas City missed an opportunity to take a lead late in the first quarter when Harrison Butker’s 42-yard field goal attempt bounced off the left upright.

The Chiefs tied the game at 7 midway through the first quarter when Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce on a beautiful fade route to the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.

The Eagles wasted little time taking a lead at the start. Hurts ran for a 1-yard touchdown to cap an efficient opening drive that traveled 75 yards on 11 plays.

The Eagles were the first team to take the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl and drive for a touchdown on offense since Super Bowl 32 when the Green Bay Packers did it against the Denver Broncos 25 years ago.

The victory is the second as Chiefs’ head coach for Reid, who was with the Eagles from 1999-2012.