It was the Cinderella Story of a 9-7 Chiefs Wildcard Team that barely snuck into the playoffs versus the ultimate Goliath, a 16-0 Saints team looking to become the first ever USFFL team to complete a perfect season. And on this day, it was the underdog that came out of the gates with a fury, as the Chiefs enjoyed a great first half. The Chiefs defense held the strong Saints offense to just 2 first downs on their first 4 drives of this game. Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes was working his magic against a strong Saints defense. Mahomes would lead the Chiefs on 4 consecutive first half scoring drives. The scoring began with a 3-yard TD pass to Tyreek Hill in the first quarter for a 7-0 Chiefs lead. Then at the 12-minute mark of the 2nd quarter, Mahomes would get his second TD pass of the game, a dump off to fullback Anthony Sherman who darted 19 yards up the sideline to the end zone, giving the Chiefs a 14-0 lead. That was followed by a third straight touchdown drive by KC which ended with Tyreek Hill’s second touchdown of the game, a 14 yarder with 3:54 left in the half. Butker would miss the PAT, but the Chiefs were still up 20-0 just before halftime and the Saints were now admittedly in trouble. But after going punt, punt, fumble, punt on their first four offensive drives, the Saints finally put together a drive at this clutch moment of the game, a 6 play 75-yard drive keyed by a 38-yard pass from Drew Brees to Michael Thomas into Chiefs territory. The drive ended with a Mark Ingram 13-yard TD run to cut the Chiefs lead to 20-7 with 1:37 left before halftime. But as it turned out that was too much time left on the clock for the Chiefs offense, as they put together a 4th consecutive scoring drive that ended with a 36-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
Halftime score: 23-7 in favor of Kansas City
The Chiefs got the ball first in the second half and the Saints desperately needed to stop their offensive momentum. But the Chiefs put together a 5th straight scoring drive, going 75 yards in 10 plays and eventually getting a 27-yard TD pass from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill for his 3rd TD catch of the game. The Chiefs now led the game 30-7 and even though there was still over 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the game clock was now an early factor in this game. But as it turned out, the game was far from over. On the ensuing drive, the Saints would get a clutch 37-yard TD pass from Brees to Alvin Kamara, who would also score on the 2-point conversion to cut the Chiefs lead to 30-15. On the 3rd play of the next KC drive, Mahomes would make his first mistake of the game, as Saints linebacker A.J. Klein stepped in front of a flat pass to Kareem Hunt and returned it 36 yards to the Chiefs 2-yard line. Three players later, Alvin Kamara dove over the top for the Saints second TD in just over 2 minutes of game time. The 2-point conversion would fail to preserve the 2-score lead for the Chiefs, who were still leading 30-21 with just over 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Saints were back in business. But before the 3rd quarter even finished, Mahomes had put together a 6-play drive that ended with his 5th TD pass of the game, a 20-yard strike to tight end Travis Kelce to put the Chiefs up 37-21 as the 4th quarter opened. Brees answered right away with a drive that ended with a TD pass to Michael Thomas with just over 10 minutes left in the game, making the score 37-27. The Saints would add a field goal at the 2:24 mark of the 4th quarter to make it a one score game at 37-30. But Mahomes would not be denied, as he mixed in the running game to drain the clock with 2 key first down passes to Tyreek Hill, the second of which put the Chiefs into victory formation to close it out. The Saints would score on all four of their possessions in the second half of this game, but because they were in a 30-7 hole, it turned out to be too little, too late.
Final Score 37-30 Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl
One of the big stories in this game were the penalties. The Chiefs were probably the most penalized team in the league this year, averaging 9.5 penalties and 83 penalty yards each game. In the Superbowl, however, the Chiefs played their “cleanest” game of the year, with just 2 penalties for 25 yards, both season lows. The Chiefs were also able to find more success against the Saints run defense (rated Supreme) than expected, with 30 carries and a 4.2 average. The Saints got 99 yards rushing from Alvin Kamara and 99 yards receiving from Michael Thomas. But the Chiefs offense was just better on this day, led by a quiet 109 yards receiving from Sammy Watkins that spearheaded a 464-yard assault on a Saints defense that allowed only 330 yards per game to opponents during the regular season. For the Chiefs of the USFFL, this was their 4th consecutive Superbowl appearance and their 5th in the past 6 seasons.
Congratulations to Coach Tim Ervin
It’s also back-to-back Superbowl Championships for the Chiefs, as they join the Ravens (Vince Trivelpiece) and the Seahawks (Dennis Crowley, TWICE) as the only teams to go back-to-back. This is the 3rd Superbowl victory for Tim Ervin, who now joins Vince Trivelpiece in 2nd place on that list, one behind the FOUR Superbowl wins by Dennis Crowley.