Patrick Mahomes; is he already the G.O.A.T?
After winning his third Super Bowl ring in just his sixth season as a starter, is it too early to be having the conversation that Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the greatest to ever play the game?
There was a strange sense of inevitability in the air, when San Francisco’s first drive of overtime stalled in the redzone, and they came away with only three points courtesy of the boot of Jake Moody the writing was on the wall. When the game is on the line and 15 has the ball in his hands strap yourself in for some magic.
Much has been made this season of Mahomes carrying one of the worst WR units in the league through the postseason. Outside the ever-great Travis Kelce and the exciting rookie Rashee Rice the Chiefs WR room has been abject. Travis Kelce was as usual the main target with 9 catches for 93 yards, 8 of those catches coming in the second half.
Outside Kelce, Mahomes was as usual forced to spread the rock around with 7 other receivers notching 2 or more receptions. Niners defensive coordinator Steve Wilks deserves immense credit for on the whole keep Mahomes in check, forcing two turnovers and holding the Chiefs to 19 points in regulation should have been enough to win the game.
But some questionable play calling from Kyle Shanahan in the third quarter allowed the Chiefs back into it. The decision to completely abandon the run when Christian McCaffrey had dominated in the first half was a puzzling move, Wilks and his defence forced two crucial turnovers but those returned zero points as the Niners did not play complimentary football when it mattered.
And while QB Brock Purdy performed well, this stems back to Cam Newton’s comments on game managers and game changers, with the game on the line Purdy could not lead his offense stacked with talent to more than 3 points, thus allowing Mahomes to drag his rag-tag group of receivers to victory once again.
When he retired in 2022 Tom Brady was the consensus GOAT in NFL circles, his star-studded career that yielded 7 Super Bowl and 5 Super Bowl MVPs in both New England and Tampa Bay was thought by many to go unchallenged in terms of success. But after just 6 years as a starter, it’s time we have a serious conversation about the legitimacy of the claims that Mahomes could eclipse Brady.
Since becoming the Chiefs full-time starter ahead of the 2018 season, Mahomes has at minimum been to the AFC Championship game in every season losing only 2, and from his 4 Super Bowl appearances in that time, his only loss came against Brady and the Bucs in the 2020. So, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 wins and 3 Super Bowl MVPs, simply staggering from the former Texas Tech star.
But this win for the Chiefs is arguably the best of the Mahomes/ Andy Reid dynasty, for the first time in his career, Mahomes had to navigate a road playoff game, winning on the road in Buffalo which is no mean feat. But more impressively was how Kansas City strolled into Baltimore and dismantled the number 1 ranked Ravens completely shutting down MVP Lamar Jackson.
Even as the Super Bowl rolled around, despite his history in big games, most sports books had the Niners as 2.5-point favourites but bet against Patrick Mahomes at your peril. Although it wasn’t all rosy for the Chiefs as in the first half especially things seemed to be unravelling. Clips of Travis Kelce shoving head coach Andy Reid showed that the occasion gets to even the most experienced of players.
But as usual when it mattered Mahomes came up clutch, and he became just the 5th quarterback to win 3 or more super bowls, joining Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and Tom Brady as the only signal callers to have achieved that level of success. The fact Mahomes has done this after only being drafted in 2017 is staggering.
Whenever Mahomes does hang his boots up he’ll likely have surpassed 3 of the names on that list and if things continue in the same vein, it’s likely he’ll at the very least tie Brady’s 7 Super Bowls. But just for context, Brady played an incredible 22 years as a starter for his 7 rings, Mahomes has 3 in just 6 years, so if he matches Brady’s longevity on his career projection, he will end his career with a staggering 11 rings.
But while achievement wise Brady may have the edge, just watching the games give a real indicator of the special talent Mahomes is and why it’s already a valid argument that he is the GOAT. While there’s no doubting Brady’s supreme talent, he was regularly surrounded by talent on a huge scale.
Randy Moss had an NFL record 23 touchdowns in his first season as a Patriot, Rob Gronkowski spent his entire career with Brady in New England and Tampa, he is widely consdered the greatest tight end to ever play the game and holds the record for most touchdown receptions by a TE in a single season with 17.
While of course Mahomes has Kelce considered the second-best TE to ever play the game outside of that his talent pool is limited. Tyreek Hill was a consensus WR1 for the 4 season him and Mahomes played together before he was traded to Miami one look at the Chiefs WR roster, and it makes for bleak reading.
Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce both exceeded 900 yards and accounted for 12 of the Chiefs 28 passing touchdowns but after that it is slim pickings, no other receiver surpassed 500 yards with Justin Watson next on the list with a career-high 460 yards. That doesn’t even cover the drops Mahomes dealt with throughout the regular season, mainly at the hands of Kadarius Toney who was a healthy scratch for the biggest game of the season.
You just simply cannot write Mahomes off, and while defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo deserves immense credit for the excellent defence, he led it’s clear the heart and soul of this team is Mahomes himself and it’s fair to say that even this early in an already illustrious career he is firmly in the GOAT conversations and isn’t going away anytime soon.
