Chiefs report card: Grading Kansas City’s Super Bowl 58 performance
How the Chiefs performed in their 25-22 overtime victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl 58 on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium:
Offense: B
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid can’t be denied.
They can have a poor half. They can come up short in the red zone over and over again. But never count them out when they have the ball and a chance to make history.
Kansas City’s final 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive will stand the test of time as one of the trio’s signature achievements. So what if the Chiefs turned the ball over twice and scored two touchdowns the entire game? That’s not what anyone is going to remember.
They’re going to remember Mahomes’ 333 passing yards, Kelce’s 93 receiving yards and their third championship in five years.
Defense: A-
The game went into overtime, and the 49ers were still held a touchdown below their regular-season scoring average of 28.9 points per game.
Give a lot of credit to Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. His unit limited San Francisco’s potent rushing attack to 3.5 yards per carry. That forced the 49ers into more passing situations. They converted just three of 12 third downs as a result.
Kansas City gave its offense more than enough opportunities to win this game. Mahomes finally did.
Special teams: A+
This was a heck of a day for Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
Harrison Butker converted all four of his field-goal attempts, including a 57-yarder that was the longest in Super Bowl history. Kansas City’s coverage units were excellent, too. Jaylen Watson’s fumble recovery on a Chiefs punt led to the team’s first touchdown.
Coaching: C
Reid made some curious choices throughout the game.
He burned his first timeout in the third quarter, one that would have come in handy on the Chiefs’ final drive of regulation. He also opted to kick a game-tying field goal with six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter rather than give his offense one more try to score a go-ahead touchdown.
Spagnuolo and Toub at least came up with strong days beneath Reid.
Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on X.
