Super Bowl LVIII MVP Patrick Mahomes After KC Chiefs’ Win: ‘We’re Not Done'
The Kansas City Chiefs came, saw and conquered on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, emerging as Super Bowl champions down in Las Vegas.
It's the second Super Bowl win in as many years for Andy Reid's squad, putting Kansas City in rare historical territory. For the first time in two decades, an NFL franchise has won back-to-back world championships.
Down 10 points in the Super Bowl yet another time, quarterback Patrick Mahomes did the only thing he knows how to do in that type of game: engineer a comeback. In all, the reigning Super Bowl MVP delivered with a 34-completion night with 333 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Additionally, he rushed the ball nine times and tallied 66 yards on the ground. It was an award-worthy performance both literally and figuratively, as the 28-year-old notched this year's Super Bowl MVP award as well. It's his third ever.
Speaking to CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson following a thrilling overtime victory, Mahomes spoke about the significance of this win.
"It means a ton," Mahomes said. "Just the adversity we dealt with this year, and to come through... the guys never faltered. I've just got to give God the glory, man. He challenged us to make us better, and I'm proud of my guys, man. This is awesome. It's legendary."
All week long, the buzz surrounding the Chiefs was centered around the possibility of a dynasty. Heck, tight end Travis Kelce even discussed it on his New Heights podcast in the days leading up to the big game. If Kansas City took down San Francisco, it would give them a third championship ring in five years and bring those dynasty discussions to fruition. By the end of the night, that was exactly the case.
Mahomes is ready to acknowledge that he's the quarterback of a dynasty. With that said, he's far from ready to call it the end of this current window.
"Yeah, it's the start of one," Mahomes said. "We're not done. I know we're going to celebrate tonight [and] celebrate at the parade Wednesday, Kansas City, but we're not done. We've got a young team; we're going to keep this thing going."
While it's certainly true that championship opportunities are never guaranteed in sports — especially football — the Chiefs have shown to be more of the exception than the rule. Each time they've been tasked with reinventing themselves to stay relevant, they've done so. In accomplishing that, they've managed to be way more than just relevant. Kansas City has remained the class of the NFL since Mahomes got promoted to starter back in 2018.
It was an unorthodox year for the Chiefs following their Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles. At one point in late December, the team had lost five of eight games and didn't look like a serious contender. Multiple personnel, scheme and consistency issues led many to write this version of Kansas City off. Once the playoffs started, though, a switch was flipped and things became a lot smoother. The road back to the Super Bowl was tough, but the Chiefs were tougher.
That difficult road consisted of one of the coldest games in league history during the Wild Card round, then three consecutive underdog outings to end the run. The Divisional Round, AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LVIII all saw the Chiefs' opponent be favored over them. With stellar leadership in place and championship experience coming in handy, going on the road or being a lesser team on paper didn't matter. Mahomes played near-perfect football until Sunday and even after a slow start, he bounced back down the stretch and was phenomenal. Speaking on the field with the Lombardi Trophy right there with him, Mahomes issued a brief message to the football world.
"Yeah, just know that the Kansas City Chiefs are never underdogs," Mahomes said. "Just know that."
