The Kansas City Chiefs have orchestrated a brilliant comeback win to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII for their second NFL title in four years.
Trailing 24-14 at half-time, the Chiefs — led by quarterback and league MVP Patrick Mahomes — scored three second-half touchdowns and a 27-yard field goal by Harrison Butker in the final seconds to win a thriller in Glendale, Arizona. Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time.
Australians Jordan Mailata and Arryn Siposs were in the thick of it for Philadelphia, but they ended up on the losing side.
Both quarterbacks, Mahomes and his Philadelphia counterpart Jalen Hurts, went into the game carrying injuries — Mahomes with an ankle problem and Hurts with an injured shoulder.
It was a fast start to the game, with the Eagles moving the ball well on their opening drive.
Hurts threw four completions in the drive, plus a scramble for a first down as the Eagles got down to the one-yard line before the quarterback snuck in for the touchdown.
The Chiefs answered, as Mahomes led a 65-yard drive, punctuated by a 24-yard run for rookie running back Isiah Pacheco and two passes to star tight end Travis Kelce, capped with an 18-yard toss into the right, near corner of the end zone that helped level the scores.
Australian punter and former St Kilda AFL player Arryn Siposs got into the action later in the first quarter when he booted a 57-yard punt for Philadelphia that the Chiefs returned 12 yards to set up their second drive.
The Philadelphia defence was struggling to keep Kelce under control. Mahomes found him for another long connection of 22 yards to bring the Chiefs into Eagles territory again.
But the Eagles came up big on third down, putting pressure on Mahomes. The Chiefs tried a 42-yard field goal, but Harrison Butker struck the right upright to keep the scores tied at 7-7.
The Eagles started the second quarter in a similar attacking vein. Hurts went for a long bomb down field, and wide receiver AJ Brown beat the coverage to catch the ball in the end zone for a 45-yard score to hit the Chiefs hard.
Kansas City was finding it difficult to get space, as the Chiefs were forced to punt after gaining just two yards on their next drive and the momentum was with the Eagles.
The fans in green were enjoying things, but there was another big play coming up.
The Eagles moved the ball to midfield, but then Hurts tried to run for yards on first down, only to be hit and lose control of the ball. The fumble was picked up by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton, who ran the ball back 36 yards for the touchdown with just under 10 minutes left in the half.
The Eagles received the ball at their 35, and Hurts went to work trying to move down field.
He ran 14 yards for a first down, then missed on a long pass to Brown, but after a few short gains the Eagles decided to go for it on 4th and 5. Hurts had enough protection to run to his right and get the first down and more, running 28 yards to the Philadelphia 16.
The Chiefs looked to have made the Eagles settle for a field goal, but an offside penalty kept the drive alive – and Hurts made them pay again, bursting through a big hole to score his second running touchdown of the day with 2:24 left in the 2nd quarter.
Kansas City had one more chance to level things, but Mahomes could not connect with his receivers for a long gain to get them in range. On third down he had to scramble again and he ran for a couple of yards before being brought down by an Eagles defender. He got up limping after hurting his already injured ankle.
Kansas City punted, and the Eagles nearly broke through for a touchdown on the return, but Britain Covey was brought down after a 27-yard gain.
The Eagles had less than two minutes to try to score themselves. A 27-yard pass to DeVonta Smith put Philadelphia in position, but after a challenge from Chiefs coach Andy Reid, the call was reversed and ruled incomplete.
But a few plays later AJ Brown caught a 22-yarder from Hurts to get the Eagles inside the 20. They kicked a field goal as time ran out to lead 24-14 at the half.
After a spectacular Rihanna half-time show went overtime, Mahomes and the Chiefs took to the field needing to do something quickly to stay in the game.
Kansas City went to rookie running back Isiah Pacheco on the ground, and Mahomes showed his ankle was OK with a 14-yard scramble to get the Chiefs down to the four-yard-line. Two plays later, Pacheco ran for a short touchdown — it was back to 24-21 after the extra point.
The Eagles started from their 25 with a short pass to Miles Sanders, but he fumbled the ball in the tackle and Bolton ran it in for a touchdown, only for officials to rule it out on review, saying Sanders had not had control and it was an incomplete pass.
From taking the lead, the Chiefs found themselves still trailing and trying to stop the Eagles' drive.
This time, it wasn't Brown or Smith who were the targets for Hurts — it was tight end Dallas Goedert who came up big with two long gains for first downs. The second, a 17-yard reception, was challenged but upheld on review.
The Eagles kept moving downfield, although Hurts was sacked for the first time by Khalen Saunders.
In the end, Philadelphia settled for a field goal, to extend the lead to 27-21 with two under minutes left in the third quarter.
Patrick Mahomes's ankle was still looking sore, but the Chiefs began to move the ball again. Mahomes found his receivers to move the chains, while Pacheco continued to make gains on the ground.
Eventually Kansas City got the match-up they wanted, with Mahomes finding a wide-open Kadarius Toney for a five-yard touchdown pass.
With the extra point, the Chiefs took the lead for the first time with just over 12 minutes remaining.
Kansas City's defence managed to hold the Eagles and force a punt by Australian Arryn Siposs, and the Chiefs' returner Toney got the right blocks to bring the ball back 64 yards to the Eagles' five-yard line before being pushed out of bounds by Siposs.
Mahomes threw a touchdown pass to Sky Moore three plays later and the Chiefs were up 35-27.
The clock was ticking down, but the Eagles were not finished. Hurts was finding his receivers — one of them, DeVonta Smith, got free downfield and Hurts found him for a huge gain.
Smith could not keep his feet in bounds, but he was out at the two-yard line for a 45-yard gain.
Hurts ran the ball in for his third touchdown of the day one play later, before testing out his injured shoulder, running the ball into the end zone for a two-point conversion to level the scores.
The Chiefs went in search of the go-ahead score, and Mahomes tried to do it solo on his injured ankle, running clear of the defence for a 26-yard gain.
With two minutes left, the Chiefs were 17 yards away.
The Eagles were trying to stop a Kansas City first down, but a key defensive holding penalty on third down killed Philadelphia's chances.
Jerick McKinnon ran the ball to the one-yard line before stopping, allowing the Chiefs to run the clock down over successive plays.
Finally Butker kicked the go-ahead field goal. The Eagles had just seconds to score a touchdown and were forced to throw a desperation last-second pass which fell short, sparking celebrations for the Chiefs.
Look back at how all the action unfolded in our blog.
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Live updates
That's where our coverage ends
By Simon Smale
Thanks very much for joining us on our coverage today.
There will be plenty more on the game from us in the next couple of hours, but from the live-coverage perspective, that's it.
The match wrap will be live at the top of this blog shortly, as will Mawunyo Gbogbo's summary of Rihanna's half-time show.
From the three of us, once again, thanks for being a part of the coverage and we'll catch you again on another blog soon.
Pat Mahomes is MVP
By Simon Smale
It's always the quarterback, but it would be hard to argue that Pat Mahomes.
"I'm not gunna say dynasty yet, we're not done," Mahomes says.
Well that's ominous.
Now Travis Kelce is speaking - Mahomes calls him the "greatest of all time".
"I got Any Reid and Pat Mahomes man," Travis Kelce says in response to why he's open all the time.
Kelce then leads the crowd in a rendition of You've gotta fight for your right to party," which then blazes out of the speakers.
Andy Reid 'one of the all time great coaches'
By Simon Smale
Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt is praising Andy Reid as one the greatest coaches in NFL history.
A fair comment.
"The offensive line, Pat Mahomes ... did a great job," Reid has said.
"Philadelphia did a great job," he said.
It's the Chief's second Super Bowl victory in four seasons
By Simon Smale
The Chiefs only had the ball for 24 minutes
By Simon Smale
24 minutes and 13 seconds to be exact, against over 35 minutes for the Eagles.
There were turnovers and no sacks for the Chiefs either, against one of the best defenses in the NFL.
That's stunning.
Absolutely stunning.
Kadarius Toney's play of the day
By Simon Smale
The host broadcaster have labelled Kadarius Toney's 65-yard punt return, off a poor punt of just over 30 yards from Australian punter Arryn Siposs, as the play of the game.
And it's hard to argue.
It was a momentum-shifting play that just turned the game on its head from a scoreboard perspective.
Very impressive.
But a heartbreaker for ex-Saint Siposs, who only returned from injury in time for the Super Bowl.
It was a terrific contest
By Simon Smale
What a game, time seemed to stand still with two minutes to go
- Mike
That had just about everything didn't it?
A superb match between two superb teams.
Chiefs win the Super Bowl!
By Simon Smale
It's finished 38-35 in the most entertaining of Super Bowls.
Eagles return
By Simon Smale
The first returnable kick, Gainwell starts running and then takes a knee.
Six seconds remaining.
Ball on the Eagles 39.
They have one shot.
Hurts will go for an impossible hail Mary - and it falls well short!
Chiefs lead! Field goal is good!
By Simon Smale
Eagles 35-38 Chiefs
There's 8 seconds remaining.
Harrison Butker to kick the field goal to win(?) the game
By Simon Smale
All the timeouts are done.
There are 11 seconds remaining.
It's going to be from 27 yards.
Chiefs on the 10
By Simon Smale
1st and 10
McKinnon runs and is going to be allowed to score, so he shows great football intelligence and slides a yard short to take more time off the clock.
2nd and 1
From the 2 yard line.
Mahomes takes a knee, the clock winds down.
If the Chiefs go for a field goal, remember Harrison Butker missed a relatively straight forward field goal early in the game.
How are his nerves.
3rd and 6 on the 7
54 seconds remaining.
Mahomes takes a knee at the 9.
4th and 8
The Chiefs can't end the game with this field goal, there will be 10 or 11 second left after Butker kicks it. Or not.
Chiefs on the 15
By Simon Smale
2nd and 8, Smith-Schuster gets hit behind the gain line for a loss of 1.
Timeout for the Eagles with 1:54.
3rd and 8
Low snap again, Mahomes floats it into the end zone!
Nobody there.
There is a flag on the play though...
Holding on the defence! James Bradberry held Smith-Schuster and it's an automatic first down!
Fandom feels
By Simon Smale
Every Eagles fan right now...
See also for every Chiefs fan.
It's engrossing stuff.
Two-minute warning: Eagles 35-35 Chiefs
By Simon Smale
Two minutes of regulation remaining.
Next score wins? Or will there be another twist in the tale?
Mahomes goes on the run!
By Simon Smale
Mahomes has time, he takes off down the middle and tucks the ball under the arm and gets a 26-yard run!
His longest run of the game to take the Chiefs into the red zone!
1st and 10
Chiefs will get a play off before the 2-minute warning and it's a run up the middle for a couple of yards.
Chiefs go back to work
By Simon Smale
The Chiefs are three-from-three in terms of possessions to touchdowns in the second half.
Here they go from the 25.
Pacheco gest three up the middle after bouncing through some tough tackles.
2nd and 7
Mahomes finds JuJu Smith-Schuster on the sideline for a first down on the 38.
1st and 10
Pacheco is hit HARD! Wow! Right in the guts and he is staying on one knee. Huge collision. Given the NFL's very recent history, they'll be giving him plenty of time to recover from that. Ouch.
He's made it down to the sideline OK.
2nd and 8
The Chiefs, in motion, Kelce gets the reception in the dashes and is given seven.
3rd and 1
Pacheco is in the game again and here he is on the move and he's hit hard again on the leg to get spun to the ground by Gardner-Johnson.
