Super Bowl LVIII - Ranking the biggest moments in the Chiefs' win

The Kansas City Chiefs won their fourth Super Bowl, and third in five years on Sunday night as Patrick Mahomes cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players in NFL history. Let’s take a look back over the biggest moments in the game.

The 49ers and the Chiefs entered the Super Bowl with vaunted offenses that dominated the discourse around the game. Defense dominated early, however, as both sides were held scoreless in the first quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the game as both teams struggled to get the ball in the endzone throughout.

The Chiefs' offense has struggled at times this year, and for a while, it looked like more of the same in the Super Bowl as the Niners' defensive line, Chase Young especially set the tone. Young finished with two tackles, a sack, and a forced intentional grounding, per Sports Illustrated. Nick Bosa had a mind-blowing 20.8% pass-rush win rate per NFL Next Gen Stats.

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Early in the second quarter, rookie kicker Jake Moody hit a 55-yard field goal, the longest in NFL history, per NFL Network, to give San Francisco a 3-0 lead and belief they could score against a dominant Chiefs defense. Moody’s record only lasted two quarters before Harrison Butker nailed a 57-yarder.

With 13:03 left in the second quarter, the Chiefs had failed to get anything going offensively as they struggled to deal with the Niners pass rush. Then Patrick Mahomes does something only he can do. Rolling out to his left, he shimmies and contorts to throw a 54-yard bomb across his body to Mecole Hardman between two Niners. Nothing came from this drive, but it was ominous.

The Chiefs, down by ten, takeover with little more than four minutes left in the first half. Mahomes led a 65-yard drive, per NFL Network, down to the Niners’ 10-yard line before being sacked by Arik Armstead. Butker knocked over a chip shot field goal to finally get the Chiefs on the board, giving them some momentum going into halftime.

There is no doubt that Christian McCaffrey is the best running back in football, and he played lights out on Sunday, but his fumble in the first quarter was costly, bringing a 49-yard drive to an abrupt end. A score here could well have seen the Niners be out of sight by the start of the second half, it’s impossible to know of course, but this feels like a huge moment looking back.

San Francisco entered the third quarter up by seven points, they left it down by three. They had three possessions during that time which they went three and out every time, per CBS Sports. The same publication points out Kyle Shanahan’s usage of McCaffrey later in the game, with the RB getting on eight touches in the third and fourth quarters.

Had the Niners gone on to win, this play would have been a huge part of why. Brock Purdy throws backward and to his left to a waiting Jauan Jennings who looks downfield to throw before shifting his body and throwing across the field to a waiting Christan McCaffrey who does the rest. CBS Sports described this play as, “the biggest spark on offense,” and it’s tough to disagree.

Travis Kelce, who during the first half was seen screaming at head coach Andy Reid came alive in the second half as he caught eight passes for 92 yards, per Pro Football Focus. Greatness is usually how players perform in the clutch moments, and Kelce never fails to deliver when it matters most.

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Patrick Mahomes is on course to be one of the greatest sportsmen of all time, if he isn’t already, but something no one expected was how important his legs were going to be in Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs' QB rushed for 66 yards total, with 59 of them coming in the second half or OT, per CBS Sports.

With 2:42 left in the third quarter, the Chiefs were forced to punt. With returner Ray-Ray McCloud waving his teammates away, the ball hit Darrell Luter Jr.’s foot making it difficult for McCloud to handle. The Chiefs jumped on the loose ball and scored a go-ahead TD soon after.

Brock Purdy played well in the Super Bowl overall, especially down the stretch where he led three scoring drives of 75, 40, and 66 yards (TD, FG, FG), per Pro Football Focus. However, with 14:12 left in the fourth quarter, Purdy had a wide-open Deebo Samuel in the right corner of the endzone and missed him. This perhaps showed his limitations as a passer.

Later on that same drive, the Niners did drive in a score, only for Jake Moody’s PAT attempt to be blocked by Chiefs’ linebacker Leo Chenal. Given how the scores ended up, this was a pivotal moment in the game, it would have forced the Chiefs to score a TD rather than a FG later in the game.

There will be much debate about what the ‘correct’ call should be on a coin toss given the new OT rules. Both teams will now get a possession regardless of the result of the first drive, suggesting there is no advantage to receiving or not. However, with the Niner’s defense exhausted after a hectic fourth quarter, perhaps receiving the ball would have been smart here.

Following the 49ers’ FG drive to begin overtime, the Chiefs marched down the field, with Mahomes picking up key fourth-down conversions with his legs time after time. In the end, the winning TD looked all too easy for KC, with Mecole Hardman standing alone in the endzone and Mahomes all too happy to get it to him. The Chiefs win again, history made.

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