Patrick Mahomes reinjures right ankle, but plays through pain to lead Chiefs to wild win

Oh, that Hurts.

Despite a record-setting performance by quarterback Jalen Hurts, it was Patrick Mahomes who shined the brightest when it mattered in Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, having reinjured his sprained right ankle and playing the entire second half in pain but leading the Chiefs to a 38-35 victory over the Eagles at State Farm Stadium.

Mahomes, who reinjured the ankle late in the second quarter, only passed for 182 yards(completing 21 of 27 passes), but he threw for three touchdowns and helped bring the Chiefs back from a 24-14 deficit at halftime. He did not throw an interception also was not sacked.

It’s the second Super Bowl championship for Mahomes, who won his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award last week. He also won league MVP honors in 2019 and won Super Bowl 54 later that season as the Chiefs beat the 49ers, 31-20.

Mahomes threw a touchdown to tight end Travis Kelce early and then connected twice in the fourth quarter on TD passes to wide receivers Kadarius Toney and rookie Skyy Moore. Then with 5:15 left in regulation and the scored tied at 35, he directed the game-winning drive.

It included four Mahomes completions for 23 yards, a gutsy 26-yard scramble by Mahomes and a clutch, 10-yard run by Jerick McKinnon, who purposely slid short of the goal line to help run more time off the clock. After a couple kneel downs by Mahomes, Chiefs coach Andy Reid sent in kicker Harrison Butker to attempt a 27-yard field goal.

The kick was perfect and with only 8 seconds remaining it was over. The Eagles had time for one last desperation play after the ensuing kickoff and Hurts’ pass deep down the middle fell incomplete. A second or two after the ball hit the ground, cannon loads of confetti were fired up into the air and rain down upon a jubilant Chiefs team.

“I told you all this week there was nothing that was going to keep me off that football field,” Mahomes said upon accepting Super Bowl 57 MVP honors on the field. “Shout out to my teammates, man. We challenged each other, it took everybody to win this football game … and we’re Super Bowl champs, baby.”

Kansas City’s victory spoiled a brilliant effort by Hurts, the Eagles’ young star quarterback, who was a finalist for league MVP. He became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history to throw a touchdown pass and run for three TDs.

After Mahomes’ touchdown passes to Toney and Moore, both of whom managed to get wide open on their 5- and 4-yard scores, respectively, the Chiefs had their first lead of the game, 35-27, with 9:22 remaining. But Hurts wasn’t done.

He connected with DeVonta Smith (seven receptions, 100 yards) on a 45-yard bomb down the left sideline. One play later, Hurts waltzed in from 2 yards for his third rushing touchdown and then ran for the two-point conversion to tie the score.

It was a valiant effort by Hurts, who was 27 of 38 for 301 yards and also rushed 15 times for a team-high 70 yards, but Mahomes topped him in the end during Kansas City’s game-winning drive.

“If there were any doubters, there shouldn’t be no,” Mahomes said afterward of Hurts. “The way he stepped up on this stage — he ran, threw the ball, whatever it took for his team to win — I mean that was a special performance and I don’t want it to get lost in the loss they had. … It was a special performance.”

Mahomes, who originally suffered his ankle sprain during an AFC Divisional playoff win over Jacksonville, hurt the ankle again with 1:44 left in the second quarter after a fumble. He was able to recover it and pick up nine yards, but Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards grabbed him around the ankles, including the right one, and Mahomes went down in pain.

He hopped off the field in obvious pain, took a seat on the bench, and could be seen wincing in agony. When he came out for the second half, he was no longer limping and managed to play through the injury.

Things started well right off the bat for Philadelphia. The Eagles opened the game with an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard keeper by Hurts to grab an early 7-0 lead less than five minute into the first quarter.

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“I kept moving around and got taped back to go out there for the second half and I felt good,” Mahomes said.

Twice, they converted on third down and the big play was a 23-yard pass from Hurts to Smith, who spun away from a defender to get extra yards.

The Chiefs responded in a flash, however. They went 75 yards on six plays in just 3 minutes, 12 seconds with Mahomes finding tight end Travis Kelce in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Kelce gained some separation on the route thanks to a little shove on safety Marcus Epps and Mahomes put the football right in his hands.

Following a stalled drive by the Eagles and a missed 42-yard field goal attempt by the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, the fireworks quickly returned.

On the first play of the second quarter, Hurts threw a deep pass down the field to A.J. Brown, who stretched out and dove to make the catch in the end zone. The pass play was good for a 45-yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead for the Eagles, who were gaining momentum.

After forcing the Chiefs to punt, however, that momentum came to a screeching halt when on third down, Hurts inexplicably dropped the football after the snap and squirted away from him. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton scooped it up and ran the fumble back 36 yards for a Kansas City touchdown to tie the score.

The turnover didn’t phase the Eagles, who went 75 yards on 12 plays on the ensuing possession with Hurts taking it in from 4 yards and his third touchdown overall. It might not have happened had the Chiefs’ Chris Jones not been flagged with a neutral zone infraction. It was fourth down, the Eagles had two yards to go for the first, and Kansas City’s best defensive player made an alarming mistake that gave Philadelphia an automatic first down.

Hurts scored on the very next play and Mahomes reinjured his ankle during the following series.

The Eagles couldn’t get into the end zone during the final possession of the first half, although they had their chances after a nice 27-yard punt return by Britain Covey with 1:22 left to play. A 35-yard pass play from Hurts to Smith was wiped out after a review confirmed Smith didn’t maintain possession of the catch. Brown made a couple of nice jukes on a 22-yard catch and run to get away from cornerback Jaylen Watson.

On first and 10 from the Chiefs’ 19-yard line, they didn’t take a shot in the end zone, instead throwing a short screen that went for two yards with the game clock ticking down. With only four seconds left, they sent out kicker Jake Elliott, who made a 35-yard field goal to extend the Eagles’ lead to 24-14 at halftime.

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“I have no doubts we’ll be back,” Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick, the former Cardinals’ first-round draft pick, said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kansas City Chiefs win wild Super Bowl 57 over Philadelphia Eagles