After leading the Kansas City Chiefs to an easy 35-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night,
Reid is making his Super Bowl comeback after the Eagles’ 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. With the exception of Dick Vermeil, who went 19 seasons between 1980 and 1999, the 15-season hiatus is the second-longest in NFL history between Super Bowl appearances.
Reid and Vermeil are both past head coaches of the Chiefs and Eagles. After losing to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV with his Eagles, Vermeil went on to win Super Bowl XXIV with the Rams under his coaching.
After throwing three touchdown passes and tip-toeing down the sideline for the game-winning touchdown, the Chiefs defeated the Titans to win their first Super Bowl in fifty years.
They will meet the winner of the NFC title game between Green Bay and San Francisco in Miami in two weeks.
Although Mahomes had an excellent job of passing as usual, the Chiefs took their first lead late in the first half thanks to a 27-yard tap dance down the left sideline. They then outran the Titans, who were focused on running, and star back Derrick Henry.
Now at last, the Chiefs (14-4) are headed to the Super Bowl for the third time overall and for the first time since 1970.
Reid and owner Clark Hunt were even more ecstatic about their accomplishment when they got the Lamar Hunt Trophy, which bears his father’s name and is symbolic of the AFC championship.
Pursuing the Vince Lombardi Trophy is the next step.
Following their previous three “elimination” games, the sixth-seeded Titans (11-8) got off to a fast start. Compared to Houston, New England, and Baltimore, the Chiefs’ advantage at Arrowhead was their offensive line, which included Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, and Damien Williams, as well as a significantly improved defense from their AFC title game loss the previous year.
A week after they overcame a 24-0 deficit against Houston, the Chiefs had to rally again.
Kansas City, trailing 10-0 and 17-7, didn’t back down and used a potent running attack to dominate the clock and take a 35-17 advantage. Mahomes, of course, countered it with deft passing, distributing the ball on passes that were both short and long. Midway in the final quarter, Watkins completed a 60-yard pass to set up the dagger and the Chiefs’ 28th straight point.
When the audience began to sing “I Want To Dance With Somebody,” Mahomes raised both arms in the air.
In two weeks, that someone will be the 49ers or the Packers. Later on Sunday, they were in California debating who would win the NFC crown.
The Titans got a big break after taking a 3-0 lead on Greg Joseph’s first field goal. Despite Tennessee’s propensity for scoring in the red zone, Joseph hadn’t been used in his previous four games with the team. Replay analysis revealed that the ball struck the ground even though Bashaud Breeland seemed to make a diving interception.
With the aid of two straight offside calls and Adam Humphries’s first-ever playoff reception on a fourth-down pass, the Titans were able to score on—wait—Henry’s 4-yard run.
Henry, who had been an unstoppable force in the previous three games, was limited to 69 yards on 19 carries. On Sunday, though, the Chiefs easily outran the Titans.
53 of those yards went to Mahomes, who also completed 23 of 35 passes for 294 yards passing.
QUIRKY
Henry beat Baltimore last week with a leap pass that resulted in a touchdown. Dennis Kelly imitated his coach, Mike Vrabel, on Sunday. He slipped past for a lob pass from Ryan Tannehill, tripping backward but managing to cling on for Tennessee’s second touchdown. Since 2000, the offensive lineman who has the most receiving touchdowns in a season is the backup tackle. He had another one with Jacksonville.
As a linebacker, Vrabel caught 12 touchdown passes, one of which was in the Super Bowl against Reid’s Eagles.
QUARTERS DOWNS
Early scoring drives relied heavily on fourth-down conversions, demonstrating the coaches’ penchant for gambling. On fourth-and-2 at the Kansas City 29, Humphries, who had missed the previous six games due to an ankle injury, caught a 3-yard pass. After two plays, Henry scored.
The Chiefs went on fourth-and-2 from the Titans 28 on their next drive. The march to Hill’s first touchdown was resumed by Travis Kelce’s 4-yard reception.
