Remind me who the NFL MVP a season ago plays for currently. Remind me which was the most hyped team entering this 2019 season. Remind me which team is already the Caesars Sportsbook odds on favorite to win Super Bowl LV next year. Remind me which team already had won its two playoffs game en route to the Super Bowl despite facing double-digit deficits in both games. Remind me which team has a head coach who has the 6th-most all-time wins in 21 seasons.
If you haven’t caught on already, the answer to all of the above: the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFL fans are always quick to make their judgements on a big game, none the less the Super Bowl, as to whether one team won it or the other team lost it. Quit it.
The Kansas City Chiefs won this Super Bowl. Don’t give me all the numbers about head coach Kyle Shanahan’s history in the fourth quarter and overtime in a Super Bowl. Don’t throw all of the numbers at me that illustrate just how bad Jimmy Garoppolo was down the stretch. He certainly wasn’t great. For the first three quarters of the game Jimmy G did put on a show against a good Chiefs defense. He put the 49ers in a comfortable position with a 10-point lead.
The guy did what he was supposed to do, Patrick Mahomes just did it better.
The two forces that everyone was looking forward to seeing go head-to-head were the Chiefs offense against the 49ers defense. And that’s exactly the matchup we saw in the waning minutes of the game. After putting up only ten points through the first three quarters, the Chiefs scorched the Niners defense for 21 straight points in just five minutes. That is the offense the world tuned in to watch.
In a sense, football fans got the best of both worlds with this matchup. San Francisco seemed to have every answer for the Kansas City O, despite Andy Reid’s successful risks to go for it early and often on fourth down plays. No one wanted another low scoring affair after last year’s Super Bowl dud gave us only 16 total points. And thank you Mr. Mahomes for giving us a fourth-quarter comeback. Isn’t that what we want to see in a championship game of any sport? A close contest that includes a come-from-behind win? Yes please.
The Chiefs deserved this win after 50 years without a championship. Andy Reid deserved this win after more than two decades in the league as a head coach without a championship. Patrick Mahomes deserved this win after he won the NFL MVP and became what many called the most explosive offensive player the league may have ever seen.
The Kansas City Chiefs won this game; give the team the proper credit.
Jacob Recht is a producer for ESPN Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation Radio. You can follow him on Twitter @jakeyrecht
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)