When all is said and done, Patrick Mahomes can be considered the greatest footballer of all time.
Yes, Tom Brady’s shadow and his six rings are still big, especially since the two will meet at the Super Bowl in two weeks. But Mahomes may one day get there, and that is not an unwise or controversial statement. Not after he won his first Super Bowl last February at the advanced age of 24 – the same age Brady won his first – and especially not after Mahomes’ last legendary performance.
On Sunday, seven days after suffering a painful toe injury and concussion in the divisional round, Mahomes came out and dominated the AFC championship game so impressively that even his future 62-year-old Hall of Fame coach was left in amazement after the Chiefs’ 38-24 victory over Buffalo Bills.
“I’m an old guy who saw two really good quarterbacks and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘This guy seems to surprise me a little bit more with every game,'” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, after the game.
Reid, who already trained Brett Favre at his peak, was a voice in a chorus of praise.
“He’s a player, so it doesn’t necessarily matter the situation or the circumstances – he tends to rise above all of that,” said safety tyrann Mathieu.
“We just had the defender who could make all the right plays and all the right shots,” said tight end Travis Kelce. “Today he was just perfect.”
Mahomes’ final line of statistics was just that. He overcame the extremely hungry Josh Allen – another worthy MVP contender this season – completing 29 from 38 to 325 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, and his passer rating of 127.6 was the highest since November 1.
Buffalo believed it was a team of destiny, but many teams felt that way, only to have their hopes dashed by alpha quarterbacks at the height of their powers. That’s what Mahomes is, the Bills learned, and that’s what Brady is. Which is why your next Super Bowl LV clash will be so special.
Of course, it’s a battle between the old GOAT against the young GOAT, with the new school of Mahomes, improvising the QB game against Brady’s old school pocket prototype, looking like an easy plot, not to mention a ratings bonanza for the turns on.
For those who love the history of the game, for those who value legacies, it promises to be much more. In a league where simply reaching the Super Bowl is difficult, a victory by Brady would make it even more difficult for Mahomes to overcome him in terms of rings. A 7-1 lead is difficult to overcome, although it is a testament to Mahomes’ prodigious skill that would not be out of the question.
But with a Mahomes win, he would need * just * four more to match Brady, with perhaps 10 to 15 or more seasons to play. Not at all dire odds, considering Mahomes’ considerable gifts and Kansas City’s excellent infrastructure.
Furthermore, there is a chance that this will be the last time we will see these two facing off, as Brady is 43 and the Chiefs and Bucs are not scheduled to play against each other in the regular 2021 season. the tiebreaker, as the two are 2-2 against each other, with Brady winning the first two clashes and Mahomes winning the last two, including a 27-24 game earlier this season.
So yes, just call it “Brady-Mahomes V: the winner takes it all.” Not only for the crown of the 2020 season, but also for the legacy.
Brady could see this day, that potential passage of the torch coming. That’s why he sought out Mahomes in the Chiefs’ locker room after his second clash, a Patriots victory over the Chiefs in the 2018 AFC championship game.
“He kind of emphasized that I was doing things the right way, that I was doing the right job and that I would have more opportunities to be in those games,” said Mahomes on Sunday.
Brady was right, as Mahomes bet 2 on 2 on the conference title games since then.
And now, in two weeks, Brady will find himself facing a more agile and armed version of himself on football’s biggest stage, with GOAT status potentially hanging on the scale one day. If Mahomes wins on Sunday and ends his career with six titles, we will see it as a tiebreaker, more or less like when Michael Jordan’s Bulls defeated the Magic Johnson Lakers in the 1991 NBA finals.
There is a good chance that both quarterbacks will know this too. Although Brady’s decision to flee New England in the off-season – and prove Bill Belichick was wrong – revealed another example of his competitiveness like Jordan’s, don’t think for a second that his young challenger, the man who scored 25-1 in its last 26 starts, it doesn’t have that feature either.
Mahomes’ fight against Buffalo on Sunday against a talented young rival at Allen offered further proof of his internal competitor. He noticed some who thought he was the smallest of the two QBs in the AFC championship.
His post-game comments about Brady and the Bucs were a sign that he is also fully aware of the historical implications of his next game.
“Being able to face one of the greatest, if not the greatest defender of all time in his 150th Super Bowl, I mean, it will be a great experience for me,” joked Mahomes, before getting serious.
“To go out there and have the chance to repeat and do against the best, is something special. And I’m excited about the opportunity. “
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