The Kansas City Chiefs have been crowned Super Bowl champions for the second time in the space of four years courtesy of a come-from-behind 38-35 victory over Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
The Eagles had looked well on course for just their second-ever Super Bowl success following a dominant first-half display which saw them starve the Chiefs of the ball, going into half time with a 24-14 lead.
Andy Reid's side looked in further trouble when NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes's ankle injury flared up again late in the first half too, but the quarterback once again managed to play through the pain barrier to lead a stirring second-half fightback.
Indeed, the Chiefs scored every time they had the ball in the second half, including a Harrison Butker field goal with just eight seconds left on the clock to secure a famous 38-35 victory.
In a tale of two halves for the quarterbacks, Jalen Hurts undoubtedly had the better of the first as he ran for two touchdowns and threw for another for AJ Brown as the Eagles dominated the time on the field.
Despite a quick start and a typically aggressive offensive approach, though, they never managed to truly put significant distance between themselves and the Chiefs on the scoreboard.
Mahomes's first-quarter touchdown pass to Travis Kelce - one half of the first-ever pair of brothers to be on opposing sides in a Super Bowl - and a Nick Bolton fumble return after Hurts had dropped the ball helped to keep the Chiefs within touching distance.
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There was huge concern when Mahomes, who had been playing through the pain of a high ankle sprain for much of the playoffs, was once again left severely limping following a tackle at the end of the first half.
However, the Chiefs talisman did not let that affect him after the interval, which saw Rihanna perform in the half-time show.
Isiah Pacheco's one-yard running touchdown in the third quarter closed the gap to three points and, while Jake Elliott's field goal edged the Eagles back further ahead, Mahomes proved to be the difference-maker in the final quarter.
A five-yard touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney was enough to put Kansas City ahead for the first time in the match, and another to Skyy Moore shortly afterwards put them in control of proceedings.
Hurts would not go down without a fight, though, and his record-breaking third rushing touchdown of the night was followed by him once again making it into the endzone for a two-point conversion to level the scores up.
With the clock ticking down, Butker's 27-yard field goal then left the Eagles with only eight seconds to come up with something special, but Hurts's attempted Hail Mary pass fell short of his teammates to spark wild scenes of Kansas City celebrations.
Mahomes's display saw him named the Super Bowl MVP to become the first player this century to win the season MVP, the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl MVP all in the same campaign.
Barney Corkhill
