The Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years with a 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
The Chiefs overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to cap a season that Kansas City has waited half a century for. It also marks the first Super Bowl win for Chiefs coach Andy Reid, and the first for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won the MVP during the 2018 season—his first as a starter.
The 49ers held the Chiefs offense to a three-and-out on Kansas City's first possession of the game. San Francisco took a 3-0 lead on a Robbie Gould field goal in the first quarter, and Kansas City took a 7-3 lead when quarterback Patrick Mahomes ran the ball 1-yard into the end zone on a quarterback keeper. The score was setup by a pivotal fourth-down call by Chiefs coach Andy Reid that kept the drive alive.
The Chiefs extended their lead to 10-3 when kicker Harrison Butker booted a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter.
San Francisco tied the game when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tossed a pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who took it across the plane of the end zone to tie the game with 5:05 remaining in the half.
Kansas City turned the ball over on a Mahomes interception, but the 49ers opted to run the clock out to end the half, sending the teams into halftime tied—the fourth time in Super Bowl history the game has been tied at the half.
San Francisco took the opening drive down the field, and a 42-yard field goal by Gould made it 13-10, 49ers.
The 49ers got the ball back and marched six plays and 55 yards to score a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Raheem Mostert to give San Francisco a 20-10 lead.
The Chiefs regained possession and took the ball downfield and looked to be headed toward a field goal, but a pass interference on San Francisco on a third down gave the the Chiefs the ball, and Mahomes connected with tight end Travis Kelce for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 6:13 remaining to cut the lead to 20-17.
Kansas City forced a San Francisco punt to set up a potential game-winning drive with about 5 minutes left in the game.
Mahomes threw a perfect pass to Sammy Watkins down the right sideline to set up the Chiefs with a first-and-goal at the 10. Mahomes kept the ball on a keeper to the 4, and then Mahomes lost a yard on the next play while trying to scramble.
Facing a third-and-goal at the 5, Mahomes flicked a pass to running back Damien Williams, who raced to the near corner of the end zone to give the Chiefs a 24-20 lead. The play was reviewed, but held. Mahomes was 5-for-5 on the drive.
The 49ers got the ball near midfield and missed on a long pass downfield, setting up a fourth down. Garoppolo was sacked on a play in which he was ruled down in the grass, which gave the ball back to the Chiefs.
Williams then had a 38-yard rushing touchdown to cap all scoring.
The Chiefs had fallen behind by double digits in each of their last two playoff games. They fell behind the Houston Texans by 24 points in the first half of the divisional round before storming back to take a 28-24 lead at the half. In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs twice fell behind the Tennessee Titans by 10 points, only to come back and make their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years.
