Patrick Mahomes wills Chiefs to 38-35 Super Bowl win against Eagles

GLENDALE, Ariz. — One the most brilliant Super Bowl displays of quarterbacking prowess in league history — between wunderkind Patrick Mahomes and the MVP runner-up, Jalen Hurts — was decided by a run.

With the game knotted at 35, Mahomes took a first-and-10 snap, looked downfield and sprinted up the middle. Willing his right high ankle sprain — which he hurt last month against the Jaguars and was hobbled by after being tackled in the second quarter — Mahomes ran into the emerald expanse in front of him, gaining 26 yards and setting up his second Super Bowl victory in three tries.

An Eagles defense that had been the league’s best all season and barely bothered to show up Sunday was flagged for holding three plays later on an third down incomplete pass and tried to let running back Jerrick McKinnon score. He resisted and slid at the one.

After the Chiefs took a knee, kicker Harrison Butker jogged onto the field for the easiest, hardest kick of his life — a 27-yard chip shot to win the Super Bowl, 38-35.

It ended a masterclass at the most important position in the sport. Mahomes went 21-for-27 for only 182 yards but threw three touchdowns, two in the fourth quarter, and finished with a 131.8 passer rating. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was almost as good, completing 27-of-37 passes for 304 yards, one touchdown and a 106.1 passer rating.  He ran 15 times for 70 yards — and three touchdowns.

It was a performance unlike any in Super Bowl history. When he ran for a four-yard touchdown to put the Eagles ahead by seven with 2:24 to play in the first half, Hurts became the first player in Super Bowl history to run for two touchdowns and throw at least one.

His first rushing touchdown capped their first drive and was the Eagles’ trademark: a one-yard Hurts sneak in which running backs shoved him through the line of scrimmage. His second touchdown was a gorgeous arcing throw from the right has to the left wing of the end zone for a 45-yard A.J. Brown touchdown.

He committed the game’s lone quarterbacking error, though, and it was a doozy — he took a second-quarter snap, ran and looked to throw and simply dropped the ball. Chiefs linebacker Nick Morrow picked the ball up and returned it 36 yards for a touchdowns.

Twice in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs threw touchdowns on masterful trickery by head coach Andy Reid.  With 12:04 to play, receiver Kadarius Toney split right, jogged in motion to the left, then stopped and broke for the right pylon upon the snap. When Mahomes lobbed the ball for him, the was wide open for a five-yard score.

Less than three minutes later, receiver Skyy Moore did the same thing, but on the left side. He lined up split left, jogged in motion to the right, then stopped, and broke to the left pylon. Mahomes threw a four-yard touchdown pass to him.

In between: the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. After the Eagles went down by one to trail for the first time all game, they went three-and-out. Toney fielded the punt at the Chiefs’ 30 and worked his way across the field and up the right sideline. By the time he was pushed out of bounds at the Eagles’ 5, he’d gained 65 yards — four more than the record.