Cleveland native Travis Kelce and the Chiefs come out the victors of late Super Bowl comeback
Feb 15, 2023
Even though the Cleveland Browns did not make the playoffs this season, Cleveland fans were excited to watch Cleveland Heights High School alumni Jason and Travis Kelce compete in the Super Bowl.
The Kelce brothers became the first brothers to play against each other in the Super Bowl on Sun., Feb. 12. Travis, the future Hall of Fame tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, earned the bragging rights over his brother after Kansas City mounted a late comeback to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, displaying a passing attack that the Chiefs could not stop early in the contest. Hurts was in-rhythm with his favorite targets early on, finding wide receiver DeVonta Smith three times for 42 yards on the first drive. Two drives later, Hurts connected with A.J. Brown for a 45 yard touchdown to give the Eagles a ten point lead heading into halftime, 24-14.
Both Smith and Brown would combine for just shy of 200 yards in the air, proving themselves as one of the best wide receiving duos in the NFL.
It was the second-half effort from the Chiefs offense that propelled them to a late victory. Coming out of halftime, Mahomes led his offense downfield and running back Isiah Pacheco punched in a touchdown to cut the diffcent to three.
Pacheco was the spark in the run game that the Chiefs were looking for all season, totaling 76 yards on 15 attempts.
The Pacheco touchdown was followed by stout defense from Kansas City and two more touchdowns, coming from short passes to wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore to put the Chiefs ahead, 35-27.
Philadelphia responded with a touchdown of their own, but the Eagles left more than enough time for Kansas City’s offense to walk into field goal range. A late holding call on a third down by cornerback James Bradberry allowed for the Chiefs to run out the clock and get a last-second field goal to seal the victory.
Not only was Mahomes the regular season MVP, he was crowned as the Super Bowl MVP as well. The now two-time Super Bowl winner threw for 182 yards on 21 completions along with three touchdowns. The Cleveland Heights native remained to be Mahomes’ favorite target, tallying 81 yards on six catches and a touchdown.