The Kansas City Chiefs, guided by Patrick Mahomes overcoming a painful ankle, won the third Super Bowl in their history, beating (38-35) the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday in Glendale (Arizona), after an exciting epilogue of the NFL championship.
Also crowned in 1970 and 2020, the Missouri team, which reached the last step for the third time in four years, after a failure conceded in 2021, succeeds the Los Angeles Rams. The formation of Pennsylvania, titled for the first time in 2018, now has three losses in the final after 1981 and 2005, despite an exceptional performance, but in vain, from quarterback Jalen Hurts.
It was a 27-yard kick from Harrison Butker, which delivered the Missouri team, 8 seconds from the siren and after a breathless suspense.
One more consecration for Mahomes, who confirms to be a credible heir to Tom Brady in the NFL, even if with this second ring, he is still far from the seven of his glorious elder, neo-retired.
Led by the score for three quarters, they went through all the emotions in this match, hanging on the fate of Mahomes, when, just before the break, he again hurt his right ankle, already mistreated by a sprain during the play-offs. His grimace of pain indeed left fear of an inability to continue the match.
But with courage, he returned in the third quarter, managing to revive his team, with a 14-yard run which then allowed running-back Isaiah Pacheco to finish the job to reduce the score (24-21).
The suspense quickly resumed its rights in this poster, oh so spectacular, between the two best teams of the season, "driven" by the two best quarterbacks.
Because opposite, Jalen Hurts had just struck the spirits for his first experience at this stage, at 24 years old. After opening the scoring in the first quarter and then finding A.J. Brown in the end zone on a marvelous 45-yard long pass, he made his only mistake of the game by losing a ball on his own, allowing Kansas City to equalize against by Nick Bolton (14-14).
But he immediately showed a steel mind on the next possession, going up the field almost single-handedly by the strength of his legs. Elusive, he first covered 14 yards, then 28 more and finally four last to put the Eagles in front (21-14), becoming the first quarterback in history to score two touchdowns on the run and one on the pass in a Super Bowl.
And this, even before half-time, the show of which was provided by Rihanna. All dressed in red, suspended by cables on a platform lowered onto a long stage placed in the center of the field, she chained her hits including "Umbrella", surrounded by many dancers. Then the Barbadian artist pregnant with her second child went back up there, for her finale, on the chorus "Diamonds in the Sky".
There was also no shortage of diamonds on the lawn of State Farms Stadium, filled with some 70,000 fans of both teams and an audience of stars, Paul McCartney and LeBron James in the lead.
Because Hurts and Mahomes, who had not been outdone in the meantime, by finding his favorite receiver, Travis Kelce, for a first equalizing touchdown (7-7), were able to shine even brighter in the second act. Beyond their talent, on an even more historic note, it was the first time that two African-Americans in this key position opposed each other in the high mass of US football.
And, between several billion-dollar television ads, they made the best publicity there is for this sport, which is mainly talked about outside America for the violence of its shocks, as recalled by the cardiac arrest suffered by Damar Hamlin in the middle of a match after a tackle. A little over a month later, the Buffalo Bills player was on the pitch before kick-off, determined to play again one day.
In the unsustainable last quarter, Mahomes found Kadarius Toney on a throw, to finally give the Chiefs the lead (28-27). Who we break when their "QB" found Skyy Moore for his third passing touchdown, after a fantastic comeback from Toney, again him, in the middle of 65 yards (35-27).
Folded match? Not in the least, as Hurts didn't say his last word by hitting his third rushing touchdown (a record for a quarterback in a Finals), before converting it by two points by going into the net again. goal (35-35).
A vain feat… Shining like a diamond in the rough was not enough, he was a little more polished in the face.
