After a hard-fought but relatively low-scoring game, the Kansas City Chiefs came away with a 25-22 victory in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Early plays appeared to favor Kansas City, when a first quarter fumble gave the Chiefs possession of the ball and a bizarre achilles injury took 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw out of the game.
Dre Greenlaw appeared to injure himself jogging back onto the field pic.twitter.com/p3nwmTUsfO
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce — whose pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift was in attendance with several celebrity pals — raised eyebrows early on when he appeared to body check head coach Andy Reid on the sidelines, apparently upset with Reid’s decision to run a play without him.
Travis Kelce looked less than enthused pic.twitter.com/yncKhjtNl4
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
But a record-setting field goal — 55 yards — put 3 points on the board for San Francisco just after that start of the second quarter. Forty-Niners kicker Jake Moody bested the previous Super Bowl record of 54 yards.
Jake Moody made a Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal just 12 seconds into the second quarter to put the San Francisco 49ers on top 3-0. Buffalo’s Steve Christie held the record with a 54-yarder against Dallas in Super Bowl 28.
Follow AP's live coverage: https://t.co/yW73y0ZrVF
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 12, 2024
A touchdown moved the needle even further in favor of San Francisco when the ball landed in running back Christian McCaffrey’s hands and he made a break for the end zone.
Pulled a magic trick in Vegas!#SBLVIII on CBS#FTTB pic.twitter.com/WBF0V073SN
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) February 12, 2024
The Chiefs put their first points on the board thanks to kicker Harrison Butker, whose 57-yard field goal was the longest in Super Bowl history — knocking out the record San Francisco’s Moody had set just minutes earlier.
Harrison Butker from 57!!!! pic.twitter.com/gixwWVDEqP
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2024
A Chiefs touchdown followed with just a few minutes to go in the third quarter, giving Kansas City a 13-10 lead.
WE HAVE THE LEAD.
WE REPEAT, WE HAVE THE LEAD!!! pic.twitter.com/7ZCATsbTTk
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2024
The lead changed hands again just two minutes into the 4th quarter, as the 49ers made one more trip into the end zone.
Have a day, JJ.
📺 CBS#FTTB x #SBLVIII pic.twitter.com/gYpqnh4CEC
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) February 12, 2024
Kansas City tied the score 16-16 with another field goal from Butker just over halfway through the fourth quarter.
Butker ties it up! pic.twitter.com/pSffgJvfSP
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2024
And with less than two minutes to go, Moody answered back: 19-16.
JAKE MOODY BURIES THE FG pic.twitter.com/3eJDlFmVsK
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
Kansas City tied the score 19-19 with another field goal — with just a few seconds left on the clock.
THE KICK IS GOOD! pic.twitter.com/CbGBi1ZTMH
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2024
And for the second time in Super Bowl history — the first time under the league’s newly-adopted overtime regulations — the game went into overtime.
Overtime Rules for #SBLVIII:@NFL postseason overtime rules were updated in 2022 to allow each team an opportunity to possess the ball.
Full rules available here: https://t.co/B4SCLVtNL2 pic.twitter.com/RpWtoNqlzb
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) February 12, 2024
The 49ers tipped the scales with a 27-yard field goal from Moody, bringing the score to 22-19.
#49ers unable to cash in that drive with a touchdown but they do get a 27-yard field goal from Jake Moody.
Niners lead it 22-19 with 7:22 left in overtime. A stop wins a Super Bowl.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) February 12, 2024
The Chiefs returned fire with a touchdown, earning the title of back-to-back Super Bowl champions.
THE CHIEFS ARE BACK-TO-BACK SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/ZzfhTyUXg9
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024