One of the best and more improbable stories in the NFL this season received a storybook ending on Sunday. Former Rutgers star Isiah Pacheco played a key role once again in helping the Kansas City Chiefs to a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Pacheco led all rushers with 76 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown in the He averaged 5.1 yards per carry and gained 17 yards on 4 carries on the game winning drive for the Chiefs. Pacheco became the first former Rutgers player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl since LJ Smith did it 18 years ago in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Here are two videos of the 1 yard touchdown run that Pacheco scored on on the first drive of the second half to cut the Eagles lead to 24-21.
Pacheco has been going as hard as he possibly can ever since he arrived in Kansas City. In his rookie season, Pacheco ran for 830 yards on 170 carries and 5 touchdowns. He averaged 4.9 yards per carry. He also had 13 catches for 130 receiving yards, averaging 10.0 yards per reception. In addition, he had 29 kickoff returns for a total of 597 yards and 20.6 yards per return average. Pacheco finished the regular season with 1,557 all-purpose yards in 17 games. After being selected in the seventh round of the NFL Draft, Pacheco proved the Chiefs right game after game for giving him the opportunity that they did.
It continued in the playoffs. In the divisional round against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pacheco ran for 95 yards on 12 carries for 7.9 yards per rush. That included a 39 yard run that set up a Chiefs touchdown with quarterback Patrick Mahomes out with an injury. He added one catch on one target for 6 yards to total 101 all-purpose yards in his NFL playoff debut. In the AFC Championship, Pacheco led the Chiefs with 130 all-purpose yards highlighted by career high 59 receiving yards on 5 catches.
Pacheco had several notable runs in Super Bowl LVII. On the first drive of the game, he turned what looked like a wasted play into a 24 yard gain. He had 29 yards on 3 carries on the opening drive that resulted in a Travis Kelce touchdown.
On the game winning drive for the Chiefs, Pacheco gained 17 yards on 4 carries. That included this ten yard run on 3rd and 1 to get KC into Eagles territory.
Every Rutgers fan was thrilled to watch Pacheco excel on the sport’s biggest stage on Super Bowl Sunday. I detailed his journey here. He took the mantra of “keep chopping” to a new level as a rookie in the NFL. Now he is a Super Bowl champion.
In addition to Pacheco, former Rutgers player Michael Burton is also a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s a fullback and special teams players in his ninth season in the NFL. He was blocking for Pacheco on the 3rd and 1 run on the game winning drive. It was great to see two Rutgers players earn a Super Bowl ring on Sunday.
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thevinman
February 13, 2023 at 4:52 am
So happy for Pacheco and Burton.
RU Serious
February 13, 2023 at 5:03 pm
Aaron – not sure if you plan on reporting on “Knights in the XFL”, but saw that Jon Hilliman and Mike Tverdov are on the San Antonio Bramas roster.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PKGPYH8t06fXbGDwEtGP1x_iTquketFR/view
Aaron Breitman
February 14, 2023 at 2:04 am
Thanks. I’ll check it out.
pj43
February 13, 2023 at 7:12 pm
As an Iggles fan, it was a disappointing outcome, but the KC proved to be the better team in the 2nd half. So pleased to see Pacheco (and Burton) with his South Jersey roots, not to mention his life experiences, have a memorable game. He, Burton, along with Andy Reid (former Iggles HC) made the loss easier to swallow