The San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs played in Super Bowl LIV at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, February 2.  The National Football League (NFL) championship game also celebrated the league’s centennial season.  The first half of the game began with the 49ers leading, but within the last quarter the Chiefs scored three touchdowns and won the game 31 to 20.  This is the Chiefs’s second Super Bowl win, 50 years after their first.

This year, the NFL commemorated its one-hundredth season.  Before the start of the championship game, the NFL honored the All-Time Team, a roster comprised of 100 players and 10 coaches dubbed “The Greatest” in their respective positions, according to nfl.com.  Former and current players and coaches filled the field during a special tribute to honor the All-Time Team, according to saturdaytradition.com.

The NFL also hosted four 100-year-old World War II veterans during the coin toss ceremony to acknowledge the seventy-fifth anniversary of the end of World War II.  The NFL invited Staff Sergeant Odon Cardenas, First Lieutenant Samuel Lombardo, Colonel Charles McGee, and Corporal Sidney Walton on the field to present the referees with the coin for the coin toss, according to washingtonexaminer.com. 

This year was the first Super Bowl appearance for the Chiefs in over 50 years.  The last time Kansas City competed in the Super Bowl was January 11, 1970, when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV for their first and only Lombardi Trophy, according to cbssports.com. 

The 49ers last appeared in Super Bowl XLVII in the 2012 season, falling short to the Baltimore Ravens.  This year, Ms. Katie Sowers, 49ers offensive assistant coach, became the first female coach in Super Bowl history.  Ms. Sowers has worked with the 49ers since 2017, according to cbsnews.com. 

Six minutes after kickoff, San Francisco scored the first points of the game with a field goal.  Mr. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback, then took possession and mounted a drive that ended with a touchdown run from Mr. Damien Williams, Chiefs running back, to put the Chiefs at a 7 to 3 advantage, according to cbssports.com.

The Chiefs then registered a field goal, putting them ahead 10 to 3.  Mr. Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers quarterback, threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Mr. Kyle Juszczyk, 49ers fullback, to tie the game at 10 to 10.

San Francisco added another field goal in the third quarter to set the score at 13 to 10.  Mr. Fred Warner, 49ers linebacker, intercepted one of Mr. Mahomes’s passes at the end of the third quarter.  This play enabled Mr. Raheem Mostert, 49ers running back, to score a touchdown, extending the 49ers’ advantage by 10 points.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Mr. DeForest Buckner, 49ers defensive tackle, sacked Mr. Mahomes.  Mr. Tarvarius Moore, 49ers cornerback, then intercepted Mr. Mahomes’s pass intended for Mr. Tyreek Hill, Chiefs wide receiver.  This was Mr. Mahomes first interception in five postseason games, according to thescore.com.

Trailing by ten points with six minutes and 13 seconds left in the game, Mr. Mahomes and Mr. Williams led a 21-point comeback to win the game 31 to 20.  With less than a minute to play, the Chiefs completed their third reception, cementing their position as Super Bowl champions.

In the course of 12 offensive plays, the Chiefs went from trailing 20 to 10 to leading 24 to 20.  They became the first team in Super Bowl history to score 21 points on offense in the fourth quarter, and completed this feat in half of the quarter, according to espn.com. 

Mr. Mahomes is the fifth-youngest quarterback to start in the Super Bowl, according to newsbreak.com.  The NFL named Mr. Mahomes the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of this year’s Super Bowl after the team’s double digit comeback, according to bleacherreport.com.  Mr. Mahomes also earned the title of League MVP after his 2018 regular season.  Mr. Mahomes is in his third season with the Chiefs.

Sacred Heart Greenwich senior Sophia Georgas traveled to Miami to watch the Super Bowl, alongside many Chiefs and 49ers fans. 

“I definitely think that the Chiefs deserved to win the Super Bowl not just because of their team, but also because of the fans’ dedication to their team,” Sophia said.  “It has been 50 years since the Chiefs had been to the Super Bowl, and the majority of the stadium were Chiefs fans who had traveled all the way from Missouri to see this game.  In my opinion, Patrick Mahomes played a good game for being only 24-years-old and under immense pressure.  At the same time, the 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and their whole team did play an amazing game as well.”

This was the first Super Bowl victory for Mr. Andy Reid, Chiefs head coach.  In 2004, he lost to the New England Patriots when coaching for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIV, according to inquirer.com. 

Mr. Reid set the NFL record for most regular season wins before a Super Bowl title with 207 victories, according to cbssports.com.  Mr. Reid motivated Mr. Mahomes and his teammates to fulfill their comeback victory. 

“He’s one of the best coaches of all time; he already was before we won this game,” said Mr. Mahomes, according to espn.com.  “But we wanted to get that trophy just because he deserved it.”

Mrs. Jennifer Lopez and Ms. Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, professionally known as Shakira, brought Latin-American culture to the stage during their halftime performance.  Shakira began the show with songs from her debut album.  Mrs. Lopez took the stage after Shakira to sing her best-selling songs, including “Jenny from the Block.”

Mrs. Lopez celebrated her Puerto Rican heritage alongside Shakira, who is from Columbia, in a joint performance with two Latino artists, Mr. José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, professionally known as J. Balvin, and Mr. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also known as Bad Bunny, according to espn.com.

Sophia especially enjoyed watching the halftime celebration and see the lit-up stadium during the concert. 

“I really enjoyed the halftime show with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira,” Sophia said.  “In fact, every person in the crowd was given a bracelet on their seat which had a light on it, so when the show began, the whole stadium was lit up with different colors and each person got to be part of the show in a small way.”

Featured Image by Mary Dowling ’22