Mahomes’ ankle won’t budge en route to title

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes and his sore right ankle head to a parade celebrating a Super Bowl championship.

After sustaining a sprained ankle three weeks ago, the quarterback led the Kansas City Chiefs to a thrilling 38-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Mahomes lifted his second Lombardi Trophy, winning the game’s Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career.

Mahomes finished with 182 passing yards and three touchdowns, but was especially bright playing with a sprained ankle in the second half, going 13 of 14 for 93 yards and two touchdowns. The league MVP also had 44 rushing yards, including a 26-yard dash with just over 2 minutes left and the score even at 35-35 as Kansas City looked to move forward.

Harrison Butker saw to it by scoring a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left.

“I’ve been telling you all week, there’s nothing stopping me from being on the court,” said Mahomes, who injured his ankle in the divisional round against Jacksonville. “I want to congratulate my teammates, we put pressure on each other, we need everyone to win this game, so congratulations. We are Super Bowl champions!”

Mahomes helped the Chiefs end a 50-year title drought when he led the Chiefs to a victory over the 49ers in 2020. Three years later, the versatile quarterback gave Kansas City its third Lombardi to join Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Bart Starr, Eli Manning and Terry Bradshaw are the only ones to have won multiple Super Bowl MVP awards.

“He’s the MVP,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That’s all there is to say, MVP.”

Mahomes aggravated his ankle again late in the first half on Sunday when Eagles linebacker TJ Edwards tackled him. The quarterback stood there for several seconds before limping off the field in a scene that brought back dark memories in Kansas City.

Without a doubt, Mahomes took advantage of the extra treatment that allowed him a longer half to adjust to Rihanna’s performance at State Farm Stadium. With the field cleared, the number 15 was leading the pack to get the Chiefs back on the field, facing a 24-14 deficit but knowing they would get the first offense.

Mahomes’ last ride was a brave one.

The Eagles had just scored and had a two-point conversion to level the score at 35-35 with 5:15 remaining when Mahomes found JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down. He completed another pass to Kelce and then broke away on a long personal play, similar to the one that got Harrison Butker the game-winning field goal in the AFC Final against the Bengals.

This time the chefs continued. They took advantage of a third holding penalty from cornerback James Bradberry, then headed for the 1-yard line, then ran out as much time as possible and sent Butker downfield with the game-winning kick.

“The offensive line, Pat Mahomes, and the rest of the offense, they did a phenomenal job,” Reid said.