Mahomes puts up magical show
Chiefs quarterback lifts his team from the brink of defeat to clinch Super Bowl trophy
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SUPER BOWL LIV
Kansas City Chiefs 31
San Francisco 49ers 20
MIAMI • Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hailed his team's never-say-die spirit after they staged yet another dramatic late fightback to win the Super Bowl on Sunday.
For their third straight game of the National Football League (NFL) postseason, Mahomes led the Chiefs back from the brink to seal a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
"We kept believing," Mahomes said. "That's what we've done all postseason.
"The guys really stepped up. They believed in me. I was making a lot of mistakes out there early. We found a way to win it in the end."
The comeback followed play-off wins over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans last month when the Chiefs trailed by double digits on each occasion. With the Chiefs down 20-10 in the fourth quarter on Sunday, an ESPN live model predicted that they had less than a 5-per-cent chance of victory.
But Mahomes engineered scoring drives in just over five minutes, hitting Travis Kelce and Damien Williams with short touchdown passes to take the lead.
Williams then raced 38 yards for the clinching score, sparking wild celebrations for long-suffering Chiefs fans who had not seen their team hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy since their victory over the Minnesota Vikings 50 years ago.
Chiefs tight end Kelce hailed his teammate, who is nicknamed "Showtime Mahomes".
"Doesn't matter what the score is, we've got Pat Mahomes," he said. "It's magic Mahomes, it's Showtime Mahomes. And you know what? I love him. He willed this team back into the game."
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who helped spark the fightback with a crucial long reception in the fourth quarter, revealed that Mahomes had rallied his teammates at 20-10 down. "He was telling us to believe," he said. "He brought the guys together and you saw what happened, man. We pulled it off."
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SUPER BOWL IN NUMBERS
95%
The San Francisco 49ers' winning probability predicted by ESPN's live model when they led 20-10 with 71/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
25
The New England Patriots' 25-point comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in 2017 is the only bigger Super Bowl turnaround than the Chiefs' fightback.
3
CHIEFS COMEBACKS
JAN 12
Down 24-0 v Houston Texans
Won 51-31
JAN 19
Down 17-7 v Tennessee Titans
Won 35-24
SUNDAY
Down 20-10 v 49ers
Won 31-20
2
SHANAHAN'S SLIPS
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has called the offensive plays for two of the three Super Bowl teams to lose a fourth-quarter lead of 10 or more points. In 2017, he was the Falcons' offensive coordinator.
The 24-year-old Mahomes became the youngest player to win both the NFL and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards, adding to his growing reputation as the league's next superstar.
He had the sort of performance that will have delighted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who in the next few years can expect to see star names like Tom Brady, 42, Ben Roethlisberger, 37, and Aaron Rodgers, 36, either enter or edge closer to retirement.
The win was also validation for Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who had more career regular-season wins (207) than any coach without a Super Bowl win until Sunday.
But there was only disappointment for his counterpart.
"It was a tough loss and hurts everybody in that room," said San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan, who was trying to join his father Mike as a Super Bowl-winning head coach. "We'll lick our wounds, and we'll get over this."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
