Travis Kelce reeled in the first Patrick Mahomes pass of Super Bowl 58 on a drive that went three-and-out. The Kansas City Chiefs’ struggles carried over to their second drive (one first down prior to another punt), but that was just the beginning of the drama for Kansas City.
Travis Kelce Sounds Off After Turnover
Their third drive had their offensive highlight of the first half, the social media clip of the first 30 minutes, and the sideline skirmish that had the world talking.
Mahomes hit a streaking Mecole Hardman on a 52-yard bomb that resulted in the first true chunk play of the action, putting the Chiefs in position to take the lead after the 49ers got on the board with a Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal from Jake Moody.
Following the perfectly executed go route, Taylor Swift’s presence was felt by way of a shot of her chugging beer in her suite. As if social media needed any more excitement after this action, the best was yet to come.
Following the Hardman catch, Isiah Pacheco was handed the ball on San Francisco’s 9-yard line on a standard run play that was strung out as a result of perimeter penetration by the 49ers.
The Chiefs’ star back was wrapped up at the line of scrimmage, and as he was spinning, the ball was knocked out and recovered by Javon Hargrave, flipping the momentum faster than a Swift mid-concert wardrobe change.
Shortly after the change of possession, we were shown a view of the Kansas City sideline, where Kelce was barking at Andy Reid.
The future Hall of Famer was not on the field for the turnover (and was seemingly wide open on the Hardman play), with the pressure that pushed Pacheco outside coming from where Kelce would have been aligned.
This, however, wasn’t a run-of-the-mill star player challenging a coach in the heat of the moment. Kelce caught Reid off guard and made contact with the veteran coach, knocking him off balance.
Reid was able to catch himself, but contact at that level is rarely seen. With Kelce being held to only that one catch (one yard), emotions were clearly running hot going into the locker room.
The 49ers carried a 10-3 lead through two quarters of play, and the primary halftime story wasn’t the trick play that resulted in the only touchdown of the first half, but rather, maybe the greatest tight end in league history in an emotional spot with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.
MORE: NFL World Reacts to Unbelievable Trick Play
Where this game will go is TBD, but the Kelce component will be a story one way or another – even more so than was the case entering this game.
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