Every Chiefs Super Bowl has a story.
From injuries, furious comebacks and game-defining moments, each Kansas City Super Bowl appearance amid its current dynasty represents its own book. But how should they be ranked?
Ahead of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, where the Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday at the Caesars Superdome aiming for their fourth Lombardi Trophy in seven years, here’s our ranking of Kansas City’s title games from least to most entertaining.
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4. Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9
In last place is the lone Super Bowl the Chiefs have lost in the Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes era.
After Kansas City took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, Tom Brady and the Bucs ran away with the game. Behind a masterful plan from Todd Bowles, then the Bucs’ defensive coordinator under Bruce Arians, Tampa picked off Mahomes twice, sacked him three times and registered nine quarterback hits.
The nine points marked the Chiefs’ lowest scoring output of the 2020 season, regular season or playoffs. This also marked Mahomes’ first double-digit loss in his NFL career.
3. Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs 31, 49ers 20
Kansas City ultimately won by double digits — the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory in 50 years — but it wasn’t smooth sailing for most of the contest.
The Chiefs fell behind 20-10 in the third quarter after a Niners field-goal drive, which Mahomes followed with his second of two interceptions. But he guided Kansas City to 21 straight points in the final 6:13 to stun San Francisco.
2. Super Bowl LVIII: Chiefs 25, 49ers 22 (OT)
The Super Bowl LIV rematch last season marked just the second-ever Super Bowl to go to overtime, which puts the game high on this list. It was three seconds from hitting a second overtime, in fact. But that overshadows the fact that this was a sloppy, somewhat boring game for the most part.
After the Niners hit a short field goal on the first possession of overtime, Mahomes responded by leading the game-winning touchdown drive, capped by a short pass to a wide-open Mecole Hardman in the end zone.
Mahomes acknowledged postgame that this Super Bowl "meant more," and for good reason. Kansas City overcame plenty of adversity throughout the regular season, particularly on offense, where it was plagued by wide-receiver issues.
1. Super Bowl LVII: Chiefs 38, Eagles 35
This is indisputably the most entertaining Super Bowl of the Reid-Mahomes era — at least up until now.
In the second quarter, Mahomes re-aggravated a high ankle sprain that he had suffered in the divisional round, but he battled through it to help the Chiefs overcome a 10-point halftime deficit. He threw two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and had a 26-yard scramble on that bum ankle to set up Kansas City’s game-winning drive. It was a classic Mahomes performance.
The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts had a dominant showing, and actually outplayed Mahomes in the game, posting 374 total yards and four total touchdowns. But a controversial third-down holding penalty on cornerback James Bradberry in the final minutes forced Philadelphia to use its final timeout. Kansas City hit the game-winning field goal with eight seconds left.
This was the third-highest scoring Super Bowl ever. The Eagles’ 35 points also marked the most by a losing team.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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