Super Bowl LVII: Chiefs overtake lead, defeat Eagles 38-35

PHOENIX - he Valley of Fun is in full force on Super Bowl 57 Sunday!

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.

"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."

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.

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.

Patrick Mahomes is still pretty good with only one fully functioning ankle.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback 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 of Super Bowl 57 was an action-packed doozy as the Philadelphia Eagles took a 24-14 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs.

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

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Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for two touchdowns in the first half and also connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes also threw a touchdown pass and Nick Bolton returned a fumble 36 yards for another score.

Mahomes limped off the field late in the second quarter. The two-time NFL MVP has been fighting a badly sprained right ankle and looked like he re-aggravated the injury.

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.

Hurts is already putting together a solid Super Bowl. He joins Jim McMahon as the only quarterbacks with two TD runs in a Super Bowl. His 61 yards rushing are already third-most for a QB in a Super Bowl behind Steve McNair and Colin Kaepernick.

The Philadelphia Eagles wasted little time taking a lead soon after kickoff. 

Quarterback Jalen Hurts ran for a 1-yard touchdown to cap an efficient opening drive that traveled 75 yards on 11 plays. DeVonta Smith was Hurts’ favorite target on the drive, catching three passes for 41 yards.

But the Kansas City 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 drive went 75 yards on just six plays. Rookie Isiah Pacheco had 29 yards rushing in the drive.

Football fans descended by the thousands on Glendale, Arizona, for the NFL’s title game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. It was glorious weather for revelers, with partly cloudy skies and high temperatures in the 70s.

The teams arrived more than three hours before the scheduled game time 4:30 p.m. local time. The retractable roof is open and the weather is essentially perfect, with temperatures in the 70s. The Chiefs and Eagles both have plenty of fans in Arizona, but it’s a decidely pro-Philadelphia crowd.

Patrick Mahomes says he’s "definitely in a better spot" when it comes to his ailing right ankle than he was for the AFC championship game, and the AP MVP doesn’t expect to be limited by it when he leads the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.

The quarterback said this week that he continues to get treatment on the ankle, which he hurt in the divisional round against Jacksonville, and that it will probably continue up until Sunday’s kickoff.

"You won’t know exactly how it is until you get to game day," he said.

Chiefs offensive lineman Nick Allegretti’s wife, Christina, gave birth in the early hours to twin girls back home in Chicago, a team official confirmed to The Associated Press. Allegretti was able to watch everything unfold on FaceTime from the lobby of the team hotel while the rest of the Chiefs slept ahead of their game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jill Biden is expected to be among the fans at State Farm Stadium cheering on her beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

The first lady grew up in suburban Philadelphia and has never been shy about her allegiance to the hometown team. She and her grandson, Hunter, were at the stadium in Philadelphia on Jan. 29 when the Eagles won the NFC championship.

The 16-year-old will join her again on Sunday.

No sitting president has attended a Super Bowl, mainly because of the strict security requirements authorities would need to impose upon the tens of thousands of fans. President Biden will be at the White House on Sunday.

President Biden says he’s a Philadelphia sports fan, too, out of necessity, and often jokes that "I’d be sleeping alone" otherwise.

Rihanna has put in the work ahead of her Super Bowl halftime show, focusing so hard on what she promises will be "a jam-packed show" that her upcoming birthday and Valentine’s Day almost slipped her mind.

"The setlist was the biggest challenge. That was the hardest, hardest part. Deciding how to maximize 13 minutes but also celebrate — that’s what this show is going to be. It’s going to be a celebration of my catalog in the best way that we could have put it together," Rihanna said.

It’ll be her first live performance in seven years.