Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, picking out his takeaways from the NFL's thrilling season finale; Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a third ring in five seasons as they came from behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers
Wednesday 14 February 2024 20:36, UK
Super Bowl 58 put a stunning exclamation point on the 2023 NFL season just a stone's throw away from the Las Vegas strip as the Kansas City Chiefs recorded a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. So let's get into the final game of the year.
The end of the Super Bowl was historic, it felt like you were watching something people will talk about 20/30 years from now. Three seconds shy of a sixth quarter of action and Mahomes delivers another Super Bowl to the Chiefs, their third in five years. They are truly a dynasty.
Mahomes was perfect on that final drive. Eight of eight passing, making plays with his legs and there was a sense of inevitability about that ending once the Chiefs got the ball and Mahomes delivered with the easiest of touchdown throws, perfectly schemed up by Andy Reid. Mahomes to Mecole Hardman for the win, incredible scenes afterwards and you just knew you were witnessing something special and part of a legacy that was going to continue for quite a few years to come.
I think we also saw the grit and determination of these Chiefs. They were lost on Christmas Day, they had been defeated in four of their last six games, and even in this Super Bowl, they were on their knees at one point offensively. They had gone 16 drives dating back to the AFC Championship Game without scoring a touchdown. In the Super Bowl they fumbled five times, trailed by 10, had an interception, had two sideline meetings on offense and defense, and Travis Kelce almost knocked Andy Reid on his backside.
They looked absolutely dead and buried, but good teams find a way and that's what the Chiefs did. In all three of Mahomes' Super Bowl wins, the Chiefs have trailed by 10 and come back to be victorious, which is incredible.
Like all good teams, the Chiefs rode their luck and they had some luck. The muffed punt off the heel of Darrell Luter Jr and Ray-Ray McCloud can't get a hand on it, it certainly felt like a game-changing moment. There was Jake Moody's blocked extra point as well, which meant the Chiefs could tie it up at the end of regulation by kicking a field goal.
Who knows? Maybe San Francisco make one more defensive play? They had just defended a pass into the end zone to Travis Kelce, they make one more play there and they win the Super Bowl. Kansas City rode their luck, but also took advantage of that luck and that's what the great teams do as well.
I think there are quite a few 49ers players who can feel proud of their effort in the Super Bowl. I don't think Brock Purdy played scared, it was a little bit of a slow start and he would definitely want that pass back in overtime with Chris Jones in his face - he has to deliver a touchdown there - but for the most part, he played brave.
Christian McCaffrey was a star of their offense. I felt they used McCaffrey weirdly, very heavy early on and very heavy late but got away from him in the middle part of the game and a part of the game where they were up 10-3. An eight-minute drive led by McCaffrey might have finished that Super Bowl, but they went pass, pass, pass.
Nick Bosa was incredible as well with 10 quarterback pressures, so there were some good players for the 49ers, they just met Mahomes, who can take things to a different level even on a day when his team struggles across the board.
There were a lot of questions about Kyle Shanahan choosing to take the football first in overtime. I would question that as well, because it means you're putting Patrick Mahomes immediately into four-down territory and the chance to go for two if necessary - the Chiefs control the game at that point.
You flip it and the 49ers have the chance to control the narrative. It was interesting that the Chiefs said they were going to kick the ball away if they had won the toss, they wanted the football second no matter what. It was again maybe showing that Shanahan was not doing the conventional thing.
I think it will now also be on him that he's lost a lead as a coordinator in a Super Bowl and now lost a 10-point lead twice in Super Bowl losses to the Chiefs. He said during the week he didn't care about narratives, but that isn't going to go away, that talk about the big games and not being able to win Super Bowls. It only stops when you win one, and as it stands now it's something Kyle Shanahan has not been able to do so that conversation is going to continue.
He refuses to lose. His will to win is incredible and it must have been 30 seconds after the final gun when he is talking about a three-peat already. He's already on to 2024.
Trent McDuffie was excellent for the Chiefs, Nick Bosa was brilliant, McCaffrey was brilliant and there were a lot of stars in this game, but Mahomes shone brightest and again underlined the importance of the quarterback position.
I'm going with the Jauan Jennings touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. Brave, bold, aggressive, creative, beautifully drawn up and executed. It was a really good play to get the 49ers started and would have been something pretty iconic had we seen them get over the finish line.
Not for the first time, Kansas City leaned heavily on their defense and the offense was bogged down for much of this game before coming alive and were still in it because of what Spagnuolo was able to do. They had shut the 49ers down in that middle portion of the game and stood strong at the end, finding that pressure to force an incompletion from Purdy that left them to settle for the field goal only for the Chiefs to find the end zone.
It was a Spagnuolo-led defense that didn't give up more than 27 points all season. That is an incredible effort. It's also the youngest defense in the NFL so the Chiefs are in good shape for the future.
It's been quite a season and now our attention will begin to drift towards 2024. It was interesting to see already that the San Francisco 49ers have been installed as the favourites to win next year's Super Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs must be saying 'cool, give us more fuel on the fire, we are happy with all of that, keep disrespecting us and we'll keep delivering!'. The Chiefs are going to be there or thereabouts next year, it's amazing they aren't favourites to me.
I just want to end by saying it's been a fantastic season, thank you for following along on Sky Sports NFL all year long and we'll see you at the Draft!
