Forget Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes needs to pass Joe Montana and Peyton Manning first
How does Patrick Mahomes stack up against Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Joe Montana after the Chiefs' Super Bowl LIX blowout loss?
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L-R: Joe Montana, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady (Via E'Lquipe/NY Post/The Spectator)
31 NFL fanbases felt the kind of sadistic pleasure they haven’t felt in a few years during Super Bowl LIX. What Patrick Mahomes did – or failed to do – in this big game provided a catharsis of sorts for many fanbases who’ve felt wronged over the past few years during the Chiefs’ dynastic run.
The three-time Super Bowl MVP trophy winner entered his team’s locker room at halftime with a dastardly 6-14 pass completion rate. Mahomes had a paltry 33 passing yards after 30 minutes of play, during which his team went 3-and-out three times.
The Chiefs quarterback got intercepted and had the pass returned for a touchdown by Cooper DeJean late in the half. He added another interception onto this for good measure during the 2-minute drill.
Things wouldn’t get much better for Kansas City after halftime. The Eagles came out and stopped their offense with another 3-and-out in their first possession. They ran the score up to a whopping 34-0 before taking their foot off the gas and letting the rest of the game play out.
This is Cooper DeJean’s first NFL career interception.
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) February 10, 2025
That he returns for a touchdown.
In the Super Bowl.
On his 22nd birthday.
Unreal. pic.twitter.com/NZqq34eO3D
It was truly a beatdown of epic proportions, the likes of which NFL fans haven’t seen in 11 years. The Denver Broncos‘ loss to the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks was the last time any team had a five-score lead in the big game. Mahomes, just like Peyton Manning on that fateful day, cut a sorry figure. The three-time Super Bowl MVP had 42 dropbacks during the game, but wasn’t blitzed even once by Vic Fangio.
The Eagles pass rush sent four every time, with Jalen Carter and Josh Sweat essentially manhandling their matchups. They recorded a whopping six sacks, including two possessions with multiple sacks. With Travis Kelce getting blanketed by rookie Cooper DeJean, Mahomes did not find his most reliable passing outlet until way too late in the game.
All the buildup to Super Bowl LIX was solely focused on whether Mahomes and his Chiefs would be able to complete their threepeat. While people respected the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, they didn’t quite predict how well the Birds would turn out on the defensive side of things. It’s now time to sit back and question whether all the crowning that Mahomes has been given was premature. And whether he deserves to sit at the GOAT table yet.
Patrick Mahomes has ranged from rank bad to terrible in each of his Super Bowl appearances
Mahomes is now down to 3-2 in his Super Bowl appearances. His score differential in these games is now -23, meaning that his two blowout losses carry a lot more weight than his wins. Mahomes has two one-score wins and a two-score win to his name, but he’s been down by four scores or more in each of the other two games.
Either of his losses can safely be regarded as more memorable – or notable – than any of his wins. In Brady’s words, that has got to sting way more than his wins do. The stats bear this notion out fully.
Mahomes fielded the lowest expected points added (EPA) per drop-back, -1.45, in a Super Bowl since 2000. His 34 passing yards from 14 attempts were a career first-half low for the 2-time MVP. His four-play stretch from 8:38 left in the second quarter was the worst of his career – Mahomes took sacks on two consecutive dropbacks before throwing a pick aimed at DeAndre Hopkins to Cooper DeJean, who returned it for a 38-yard touchdown.
Normally, one would think that this was an aberration of sorts for the Chiefs’ signal-caller. But the reality of the numbers is plain – Mahomes has been lucky all through his Super Bowl career. He had four turnover-worthy plays in Super Bowl 54 – his first appearance, finishing with a 63.6 PFF grade. He then followed it up with a much-critiqued game in Super Bowl 55, when the Buccaneers defensive line overwhelmed the Chiefs’ second-string offensive line.
Mahomes redeemed himself with much safer outings in Super Bowls 57 and 58, taking good care of the ball. His error-free Super Bowl 57 helped the Chiefs take the win against another loaded Eagles roster in 2023, with Jalen Hurts‘ fumble lost for a return touchdown proving to be a pivotal factor.
His outing against the San Francisco 49ers was less stellar as the Niners were able to stop him on all but two of his drives, with one of his passing touchdowns in this game coming on the back of a punt return fumble by San Francisco.
Joe Montana had iconic playoff moments at stages where Mahomes hasn’t shone
“Joe Cool” is undoubtedly the most iconic Super Bowl performer of all time. The 49ers legend, considered the GOAT quarterback before the advent of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, had a staggering 127.6 passer rating through his four Super Bowl appearances. He had a five-touchdown game, another game in which he threw the game-winning touchdown with 34 seconds left and won each of his games on the biggest stage.
Montana had two MVP trophies and 3 Super Bowl MVP trophies in a Hall of Fame career that saw him lead the NFL in various categories over the 80s. His legacy of performing on the biggest stages was such that despite not necessarily being as heralded as John Elway and Dan Marino as a talent, Montana was always viewed as the most reliable quarterback with games on the line.
Mahomes has undoubtedly set the bar for excellence very high. The 29-year-old already has more Super Bowl appearances than Montana and is perhaps yet to show us all his peak as a processor. But based on what he has shown at the big game through five games, it is clear that he has a fair way to go before legitimately having a stake in any GOAT quarterback conversation. He undoubtedly needs a signature Super Bowl win in the future to supplant Montana in the public perception.
For now, Mahomes also has more to prove as an individual after two down seasons on a production level. His ability to stay clutch and pull through in demanding situations remains the standard of the NFL. However, he has also been guilty of missing easy throws and relying on his legs while not necessarily probing for the best pass. A couple of his sacks in Super Bowl LIX came off him colliding with his own linemen, signaling a lack of composure and pocket presence that has been a troubling trend.
Peyton Manning is the standard that Mahomes needs to try and emulate for situational awareness and composure in the pocket. Manning was also perhaps the best at manipulating defenses with his cadences and motions. While Mahomes has shown a lot of progress on this front, he remains a cut or two below the very best.
Ultimately, Mahomes is already a top-5 to 10 quarterback during the Super Bowl era and a first ballot Hall of Famer if he retired. Splitting hairs about his credentials takes nothing away from his chokehold on the AFC over the past several seasons.
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Amulya Shekhar
(16 Articles Published)