The Kansas City Chiefs were two-point underdogs coming into Super Bowl 58 against the San Francisco 49ers. But the Chiefs wouldn’t let that label define them, and they defeated the 49ers, 25-22. After securing the victory in just the second overtime game in Super Bowl history, the identity of the Super Bowl MVP was the only question that remained unanswered.
Winning a Super Bowl is a team effort, but only one player can be awarded the Pete Rozelle Trophy, given annually to the Super Bowl MVP.
Patrick Mahomes Wins Super Bowl 58 MVP Award
Patrick Mahomes claimed the Super Bowl 58 MVP award — further cementing his case as one of the league’s all-time greats.
Mahomes now owns three Super Bowl MVP Awards, earning the honor in Super Bowl 54 against the 49ers and Super Bowl 57 against the Eagles. With his third Super Bowl MVP award, he shares that honor with 49ers legend Joe Montana as three-time winners.
He’s also now trailing the record-holder for MVP nods Tom Brady — as the legendary seven-time Super Bowl winner won the game’s top individual honor five times.
READ MORE: Key Takeaways from Chiefs’ Thrilling Super Bowl Win
The 49ers scored first and held a 10-0 lead until just before halftime, when the Chiefs converted a chip-shot field goal to make the score 10-3 at the end of the second quarter.
Mahomes and the Chiefs needed to mount a comeback to win their third Super Bowl in five years, and they did just that, scoring 19 points in the second half to bring the game to overtime.
Mahomes had trailed by double-digits in all four of his Super Bowl appearances, and he proved once again that a seven-point deficit was manageable. He missed on just 2 of 13 attempts in the first half, averaging 9.5 yards per attempt. He finished the game 34-46 for 333 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also added 66 rushing yards.
If the Chiefs were to come back on Sunday, they needed to stop committing self-inflicted mistakes in the second half. Mahomes hit wideout Mecole Hardman for a 52-yard completion to San Francisco’s 9-yard line with 13:01 remaining in the second quarter, setting up the Chiefs with first-and-goal. It was the third-longest pass of Mahomes’ career.
That deep shot looked like the spark Kansas City needed, but running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled one play later. Pacheco’s miscue cost the Chiefs 13.1 points of win probability, per Next Gen Stats.
Meanwhile, All-World TE Travis Kelce posted just one target, one catch, and one yard in the first half. He was spotted yelling at Chiefs head coach Andy Reid after being pulled for backup TE Noah Gray.
But in the second half, these issues were resolved. The Chiefs committed just one turnover after the half and Kelce got more involved, including hauling in a 22-yard reception on third down with seconds remaining in regulation, which set up the game-tying field goal. He finished with nine receptions for 93 yards.
And in overtime, Mahomes led the Chiefs down the field to victory with a 13-play, 75-yard drive, which gave the Chiefs their first back-to-back Super Bowl championships in franchise history.
It marked the second Super Bowl ever to go to overtime as the Chiefs became the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots. Kansas City recorded the seventh comeback of 10-or-more points in a Super Bowl, including the team’s Super Bowl LIV and LVII victories.
Mahomes Completes Another Dominant Season With Super Bowl MVP
Mahomes also won the MVP award for the 2022 regular season after leading the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and nearly every other quarterback metric. It was the second MVP of his career, as he also took home the trophy after the 2019 campaign, his first season as the Chiefs’ starter.
By defeating the Eagles during the 2022 season, Mahomes became just the 10th player in NFL history to win the MVP and the Lombardi Trophy in the same season:
- 1966 | Green Bay Packers QB Bart Starr
- 1978 | Pittsburgh Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw
- 1982 | Washington K Mark Moseley
- 1986 | New York Giants LB Lawrence Taylor
- 1989 | San Francisco 49ers QB Joe Montana
- 1993 | Dallas Cowboys RB Emmitt Smith
- 1994 | San Francisco 49ers QB Steve Young
- 1996 | Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre
- 1999 | St. Louis Rams QB Kurt Warner
- 2023 | Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes was already on a Hall of Fame track, and his performance in 2023 continued to solidify his legacy in NFL history. Every player to win regular-season MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same year has eventually been enshrined in Canton, with the exception of kicker Mark Moseley.
Mahomes now has three Super Bowls and two MVP awards under his belt. He is the third player ever to win three Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards, joining Tom Brady (five) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana (three).
He’s building a résumé as one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history, and he’s still only 28 years old.
Quarterbacks Continue Super Bowl MVP Dominance
Quarterbacks are always the favorites to win the Super Bowl MVP award, and this year was no different. Signal-callers add the most value among all positions in football, so it makes sense that QBs are typically rewarded for their performance.
In the previous 57 Super Bowls, quarterbacks had earned MVP honors 32 times. Wide receivers have won the award eight times (including the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp during the 2021 season), while running backs have earned the trophy four times.
KEEP READING: Breaking Down an Epic Super Bowl Overtime Battle
The award is chosen by a panel comprised of 16 media members – CBS and Westwood One analysts, media from Las Vegas, Kansas City, and San Francisco, PFWA-appointed pool reporters that have attended team practice sessions during Super Bowl week, past Pro Football Writers of America presidents, at-large members of the national media – and fans interactively through the National Football League’s official website, NFL.com.
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