By: Olivia Wallace

     On February 11, 2024, the most watched television program in history, Super Bowl LVIII, took place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada in which the Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) beat the San Fransisco 49ers (12-5) 25-22.

     Kansas City’s 11-win season was quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ worst season and a rough one overall. This is the first time Mahomes has had to play in multiple road playoff games. The Squire interviewed Eisenhower’s starting quarterback, Shawn Pascuzzi, who commented, “Patrick Mahomes’ ability to overcome adversity was a major role in their playoff push. Their diverse playbook and coaching also led them to this point.”

     The Chiefs came into the game two-point underdogs in the rematch of the 2019 Super Bowl. The rematch between head coaches, Andy Reid of the Chiefs and Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers, was the fourth rematch in Super Bowl history. All four have now been won by the same coach in both games.

     According to a poll on The Squire’s Instagram, 57% of students predicted the 49ers would win. Multiple people correctly predicted a three-point deficit. Another common prediction was a seven-point difference.

     The Chiefs won the coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half. The 49ers elected to receive the opening kickoff. On the opening drive, the 49ers were moving the ball down the field quickly, looking like a promising start to the game. After travelling 46 yards to the Chiefs 29-yard line disaster struck. Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffery, rushed for two yards before getting the ball stripped, fumbling it, and the Chiefs recovered the ball. Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the first quarter. The ball was punted three times between the two teams.

     Scoring began in the second quarter. After a four-minute drive to end the first quarter, the 49ers’ kicker, Jake Moody, made a 55-yard field goal that broke the record for longest field goal in a Super Bowl, 7 seconds into the second quarter. Kansas City then had a 66-yard drive inside the redzone to the 49ers’ 9-yard line. Patrick Mahomes handed the ball off to Chiefs’ running back, Isiah Pacheco, who fumbled the ball away and it was recovered by a 49ers’ player. Both teams punted the ball once and San Francisco got the ball back. After the 49ers punt, their defense prepared to take the field but before that could happen disaster struck yet again. Star linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore his Achilles while he walked on to the field. San Francisco drove from their own 33-yard line to the Chiefs 21-yard line. The 49ers ran a trick play where Brock Purdy threw a backward pass to wide receiver, Jauan Jennings. Jennings then threw a cross field pass to McCaffery who ran into the end zone. Jauan Jennings was a higher ranked quarterback prospect, coming out of high school than both Purdy and Mahomes before he switched to receiver his freshman year of college. The Chiefs got the ball back with 4:23 on the clock in desperate need to put points on the board as they are trailing 10-0. The Chiefs had a promising drive but cannot get into the endzone. Instead, they settled for three and make the score 10-3 going into the half.

     Usher took the stage to perform in the halftime show. His guests included Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Lil Jon, H.E.R., will.i.am, and Jermaine Dupri.

     The 49ers kicked the ball off to begin the second half. On the first drive of the second half, Mahomes threw his first interception of this year’s playoffs and San Fransisco had a chance to widen their lead. They did not take advantage of the situation and the ball was punted three times before the Chiefs scored. Chiefs’ kicker, Harrison Butker, made a 57-yard field goal which broke the record for longest field goal in the Super Bowl for the second time in this game. The 49ers punted back to the Chiefs and the Chiefs were prepared to punt it right back, but it did not go as planned. The ball hit 49ers special teamer, Darrell Luter Jr., on the leg and the Chiefs recovered it with amazing field position. The Chiefs first offensive play resulted in a Marquez Valdes-Scantling 16-yard touchdown from Mahomes. The Chiefs made the PAT making the score 13-10 Kansas City. The third quarter ended with San Fransisco in possession of the ball at the KC 42.

     The 49ers continued down the field and Brock Purdy threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings. Jennings became the second ever player to throw and catch a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, joining Nick Foles. Moody’s extra point was blocked keeping the Chiefs within three. The Chiefs kicked a field goal to tie the game at 16 while under six minutes remained. San Francisco then drove to the Chiefs 35 and settled for a 15-yard field goal. The 49ers reclaimed the lead 19-16 with 1:57 remaining. The Chiefs made it to the SF 11-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. Mahomes took a shot at the endzone and targeted Travis Kelce, but the pass fell incomplete. Butker came out and took a field goal tying the game at 19 and sent the Super Bowl to overtime for second time ever.

     The San Francisco 49ers won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. They made it down to the Chiefs 9-yard line. On third and four, Purdy threw an incomplete pass, and the 49ers are forced to kick a field goal. Moody made the short kick and San Francisco went up 22-19. The 49ers kicked off to Kansas City with a chance to become world champions. The Kansas City Chiefs drove down the field and converted one do-or-die fourth down and were in scoring position at the 49ers 3-yard line. Mahomes threw a short pass to Mecole Hardman in the endzone, winning the game for the Chiefs.

     When asked about what the 49ers could have done to win, Pascuzzi added, “Honestly, the 49ers are a good team and should have won. There were too many turn overs on offense from the niners. If they wanted to have a chance, they needed to convert those turnovers into points.”

     The Chiefs became back-to-back Super Bowl Champions, becoming the eighth team to do so. Mahomes went to Disneyland for the third time in his career, winning Super Bowl MVP and joining Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only three-time winners. Mahomes has trailed by double digits in all three of his Super Bowl wins. Andy Reid won his third Super Bowl as a head coach and was showered in purple Gatorade.

     The Chiefs have now won four super bowls, which is only two short of the most a team has won. The Chiefs are tied with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers. The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers each have five, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are tied for the most with six.