When Patrick Mahomes missed a wide-open Tyreek Hill in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV – the play was initially ruled a catch but overturned, as Hill trapped the ball against the ground – Ross Tucker had one thought.
“That was when I remember thinking, ‘Man, this is just not Mahomes’ night,’” Tucker said on The DA Show. “Honestly, it’s the worst game I’ve ever seen Mahomes play – and he was Super Bowl MVP.”
Mahomes finished 26-of-42 for 286 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, four sacks, and two fumbles (neither of which he lost) in a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers. He was named Super Bowl MVP.
“It was the worst game I’ve seen him play,” Tucker reiterated. “The two picks were both terrible, he had another awful throw in the dirt and that throw to Tyreek Hill was horrible.”
Mahomes’ next throw, however, was on the money.
“But then 3rd-and-15, after the replay review, the Niners are in Cover 3, and Emmanuel Moseley, the young corner, bites on an underneath route,” Tucker recalled. “Tyreek Hill, from the slot, runs the flag pattern – wide open. If it’s 3rd-and-15 and you don’t have a guy within 10 yards of Tyreek Hill for a 44-yard gain, you a) deserve to give up a touchdown on that drive and b) probably deserve to lose the Super Bowl.”
After Hill’s catch, the Niners scored their first of three touchdown drives in the span of 5:01 on the game clock. The Chiefs went from trailing by double digits to winning by double digits in a flash.
“The whole game flipped there,” Tucker said, referring to the Hill catch. “Kelce scores, the Chiefs get the momentum, Jimmy Garoppolo played tighter after that, the Chiefs went to the hurry-up, the Nines’ D-line looked tired and we all saw what happened.”
Andy Reid, meanwhile, got his first Super Bowl title to all but cement his spot in Canton.
“He did not need to win last night to cement his legacy in my mind,” Tucker said. “I already thought what he did in Kansas City and Philadelphia was crazy impressive and Hall of Fame-caliber. But he probably did for the actual voters. Dick Vermeil and Dan Reeves are not in the Hall of Fame. I think Andy Reid needed that to get into the Hall of Fame for sure.”