It was a good night for former Alabama player Isaiah Buggs. The defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs earned a Super Bowl ring during last night’s defeat of the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. The NFL champs scooped Buggs up after he struggled to find a home with the Steelers. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid already thinking three-peat following the NFL's first back-to-back Super Bowl champions in nineteen years. The Chiefs captured their third title in five years and joined some of the league's greatest franchises.
Mahomes threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman in overtime, and the Chiefs rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 on Sunday, becoming the NFL's ninth repeat Super Bowl champs. The NFL's first Super Bowl in Las Vegas was a sloppy, mistake-filled affair that was mostly boring until the back-and-forth fourth quarter and OT. It was the second of 58 Super Bowls to be tied after regulation, and the first played under new overtime rules that ensured both teams got the ball. The Chiefs trailed 22-19 after Jake Moody kicked a 27-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime, but Mahomes rallied the Chiefs, completing another impressive comeback in a rematch of the Super Bowl four years ago.
Mahomes ran 8 yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the Chiefs' chances alive and then scrambled 19 yards to set up the winning score, which came 14:57 into the extra period — just before what would have been the second OT.
"With all the adversity we've been through this season to come through tonight. ... I'm proud of the guys," said Mahomes, who earned his third Super Bowl MVP award. "This is awesome. Legendary." After Mahomes and Reid are now halfway to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who won six championships in 20 years together with the New England Patriots and were the most recent team to go back-to-back following the 2003-04 seasons. The 28-year-old Mahomes becomes the fourth starting QB to win three Super Bowls — joining Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman — and second-youngest. "I am going to celebrate tonight, celebrate at the parade and then work my way to get back in this game next year," Mahomes said. "I am going to do whatever I can to be back in this game next year. Three-peat."
The most excitement in the first half came when a frustrated Kelce bumped Reid on the sideline, knocking the Chiefs' 65-year-old coach a few steps back after teammate Isiah Pacheco fumbled inside the red zone during the second quarter.
"You guys saw that?" Kelce said. "I'm going to keep it between us unless my 'mic'd up' tells the world. I was just telling him how much I loved him." The action picked up after a crucial blunder by San Francisco's special teams set up Mahomes' 16-yard TD pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 13-10 lead.
Brock Purdy and the 49ers answered but they couldn't make enough plays, denying Mr. Irrelevant an opportunity to go from last pick in the 2022 NFL draft to Super Bowl champion.
"We have the offense to score touchdowns and I failed to put the team in position to do that," Purdy said.
