It took 365 games, but Andy Reid finally has his Super Bowl.
After 21 years as a head coach in the NFL, win No. 222 was likely the most stressful of Reid’s career on the sideline as the comeback Chiefs needed to complete yet another double-digit rally – their third of this post-season – to get their hands on the Lombardi Trophy.
Along with “Big Red” earning his first NFL championship, win No. 222 cements Reid’s legacy as one of the best head coaches in the history of the league and makes him a surefire Hall of Famer.
Reid’s career and Super Bowl victory can also serve as an example for the coach on the losing side of Super Bowl LIV, Kyle Shanahan. Like his opponent Sunday night, Reid is a coach with a great offensive mind who found a lot of success early in his career, but was known for always falling short in the big games — until his third decade as a head coach.
Finding the ultimate success can take time. Just ask Andy Reid.
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Here are three more takeaways from what turned out to be a wild night in Miami at Super Bowl LIV:
NEVER COUNT OUT PATRICK MAHOMES
It wasn’t looking good for the Chiefs.
With a little more than 12 minutes left in the game, Patrick Mahomes threw his second interception to bring an end to a 12-play drive that had lasted 5:38 with his team down 10 points. It felt like that could have decided the game.
Five minutes later, still down 10 points, a Shanahan challenge reversed a 16-yard completion to Tyreek Hill, leaving K.C. with third and 15 on its own 40-yard line. It felt once again that the air had been taken out of the Chiefs’ sails.
It was at that point Fox colour commentator Troy Aikman remarked that the Chiefs were in need of some “Mahomes Magic.” He delivered.
Under pressure like he was all night long, Mahomes found Hill with a 44-yard bomb to get the offence inside the 49ers’ 25-yard line, giving his team life with a little more than seven minutes remaining.
What ensued was a run from the Chiefs that we’ve come to expect from this team – Mahomes and his team scored 21 unanswered points on three straight touchdown drives to put the game out of reach.
For three quarters (especially in that third frame), Mahomes and the Chiefs played some of the worst offensive football we’ve seen from the team all season. Mahomes had played Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI-level bad up to the point of that second interception.
But if we’ve learned anything in these playoffs, it’s to never count out the Super Bowl MVP and his team. The 49ers learned that the hard way on Sunday night.
KYLE SHANAHAN ON WRONG END OF ANOTHER COLLAPSE
It’s undoubtedly true: Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, and the future is bright for the 40-year-old and his 49ers.
But it’s also true that Shanahan has now played a big part in two of the biggest Super Bowl collapses ever.
Three years after the Atlanta Falcons infamously blew a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots, when Shanahan was Atlanta’s offensive co-ordinator, Shanahan’s 49ers allowed an NFL championship game that was well within their grasp to slip through their fingers.
Shanahan looked to have gotten away with some questionable clock management at the end of the first half as the 49ers scored 10 unanswered points in a dominant third quarter.
All the Niners needed to do was what they had done all game long. They couldn’t do it.
The offence didn’t execute, the defence began giving up big plays and Shanahan had no answers for the Chiefs’ momentum.
After the second Mahomes interception, Jimmy Garoppolo and the offence mustered just 59 yards on four possessions that ended punt, punt, turnover on downs and interception, respectively. The defence gave up 175 yards and 21 straight points in the fourth after allowing just 237 yards and 10 points over the first three quarters.
It would be smart to bank on Shanahan to have plenty of success for years to come in the NFL, but these two Super Bowl losses will follow him around for a long time.
CHIEFS’ DEFENCE STEPS UP AT RIGHT TIME
By no means did the Chiefs’ defence play poorly through the first three quarters of Super Bowl LIV, but it hadn’t made the plays that would be needed to slow down Shanahan’s offence up to that point.
When they were needed most in the fourth quarter, however, Steve Spagnuolo’s defensive unit stepped up.
After Mahomes’ second pick early in the fourth, K.C. needed a stop. The defence allowed one first down, then forced a punt.
After the offence cut the Niners’ lead to three at 6:17 of the final frame, a drawn-out San Francisco drive was out of the question for Kansas City. The Chiefs’ defence answered by forcing its first three-and-out of the game.
And finally, after Mahomes threw a touchdown to give the Chiefs their first lead since late in the second quarter, the defence forced four straight Garoppolo incompletions and a turnover on downs. Two plays later, Damien Williams rumbled 38 yards to pay dirt, extending the Chiefs’ lead to 11.
Kansas City’s defence was never going to be the dominant, smothering unit the 49ers defence had the reputation of being. But it had the players and the coaches to get the job done when needed most.
And that’s exactly what it did.
