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The Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl Champions! Becoming the first team in two decades since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots achieved such a feat in (‘04-’05) defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in epic fashion.
The defense was the talk of this team all season (a major culprit of their success this season) with their elite young corners in L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie who both did phenomenal jobs all season making life tough for the league’s best wide receivers which you saw them do in the postseason when guarding guys such as Deebo Samuels and Stefon Diggs to name a few.
Coming into the 2023 season, the concern for the Chiefs was their need for an elite primary wide receiver option you can rely on week in and out who can make the big play when needed and who is a deep ball threat.
We saw it on opening night when they lost to the Detroit Lions and against the Las Vegas Raiders as two games that stood out due to their lack of elite wideouts.
However, despite that, rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice got better as the season went along, performing even better in the postseason, setting a rookie record for most catches in a single postseason (26), and making big catches in the Super Bowl that included a big catch at the tail end of overtime that helped get the Chiefs within goal range.
Travis Kelce also made big catches down the stretch after a quiet first half and displayed why he’s in the GOAT conversation at tight end.
And lastly, Patrick Mahomes. The man who had the odds stacked against him with the weakest receiver crew of his young illustrious career thus far and he still somehow found a way to beat the electric Tyreek Hill-Jaylen Waddle Miami Dolphins, the Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills, and the reigning MVP Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens on the road, and the Niners.
He doesn’t wow you with those no-look passes and deep bombs we saw in the Hill era (since he doesn’t have the personnel to do so), but he somehow someway just seems to be smarter than everyone else on the field and can read every coverage as he’s seen it all at this point.
After a quiet and frustrating first half for the Chiefs offense and throwing an interception on their first offensive drive in the second half, Mahomes figured out the jigsaw puzzle.
He would finish the game with 333 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception with a 99.3 passer rating as well as 66 rushing yards.
Mahome's scrambling helped keep the Chiefs alive during some crucial drives that included a big run for the first down on a 4th&1 with about 6:05 to go in overtime off a fake handoff to running back Isiah Pacheco who failed to gain the first down the previous possession.
All the pressure in the world was placed on his shoulders once again and he found a way against an elite Niners defensive frontline to get a crucial first down in what was do or die. If they fail to convert that that’s the Super Bowl and the Niners are here standing as champions.
Two plays later he finds Rice off a sweeping cross route running to his right to get a big first down. The clock was ticking though and a championship was on the line.
After a play to Pacheco, Mahomes would take it upon himself on 3rd&1 for a big scramble of about 15 yards to get the Chiefs inside the 15-yard line with a chance to tie with a field goal or win the Super Bowl with a touchdown.
He would find Kelce for a big catch later on to get the Chiefs inside the five as there was less than a minute to go.
Finally, on the final play with about six seconds to go down by three and two timeouts left, Mahomes finds Mecole Hardman for the go-ahead touchdown that sealed the deal of an epic 10-point comeback in what was the third time Mahomes and the Chiefs have achieved such a feat.
All you could do was watch in amazement at the poise and composure with the weight of the world on his shoulders and coming through in the crucial once again like his predecessors Brady and Joe Montana did numerous times during their legendary careers.
Mahomes now has three Super Bowl titles, three Super Bowl MVPs, two regular season MVPs, two 5,000 passing yard seasons, and numerous other accolades.
He joins Brady and Montana as the only players with three Super Bowl titles and MVPS and two regular season MVPs. Talk about Pantheon company.
Brady, whom Mahomes is often compared to has better stats across the board at the same age in his six seasons as a starter compared to Brady’s five:
As you see here, according to The Score, Mahomes' numbers are better all across the board and he’s only 28 years old and in the middle of his prime!
After Brady’s third Super Bowl victory in 2005, he didn’t win again for another decade until 2015. Now the Chiefs will have to re-sign their key defensive leaders in All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones and Sneed who are both free agents this season.
If they can keep that elite defense together and obtain an elite wideout there’s no reason they can’t repeat next year or avoid a decade drought that Brady had during his career.
Can Mahomes surpass Brady as the GOAT by the end of his career?
- Yes, for sure!
- Not sure depends on the rings
- No, Brady is untouchable
With all that being said, where does Mahomes rank all-time amongst quarterbacks after capturing his third Super Bowl title and MVP?
Most people’s top five would include Brady, Montana, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, John Elway, Brett Favre, Bart Starr, Aaron Rodgers, and Johnny Unitas are the ones usually mentioned in that conversation.
After last year’s Super Bowl, I had Mahomes ranked fourth on my all-time QB ladder just behind Brady, Montana, and Manning.
Now that he led a Chiefs team whose offense struggled all season with a lack of elite receivers, beating some juggernauts in the Ravens, Bills, and Niners while also coming up clutch once again, throwing one interception all postseason which came in the second half against the Niners.
After helping lead his team to become the second team to repeat this century we must ask the question... Where does he rank all-time amongst quarterbacks?
He’s a better playoff performer than Manning was and has the statistical dominance he had as well and now more championships so he moves past him easily at this stage.
He also has more titles than guys such as Favre (also a better decision-maker), Elway, Rodgers, and so forth.
That has him third behind just Brady and Montana. I was born in 2000 so I got to see some of Brady’s dominance and how he always came up big and rarely made mistakes.
Brady’s seven rings and five Super Bowl MVPs will be hard to top, as he has more rings than any NFL franchise let alone a player, so he’s clenched at number one for me as of today but Mahomes has a shot to supplant him if he continues on this trajectory.
With Brady entrenched at one that now leaves the debate at two with Montana.
Montana was a perfect 4-0 in Super Bowls and never threw any interceptions in all four contests compared to Mahomes 5 in his four appearances. Montana, like Mahomes, also has three Super Bowl MVPs and two regular season MVPs like Mahomes.
Now Montana did have the greatest wide receiver ever in Jerry Rice for all his title runs which certainly takes a lot of pressure off you offensively. Mahomes did have Hill for his first go around in 2020 but no one near that caliber his last two title runs.
Montana also played more during an era where running was preferred over the pass so his passing numbers won’t be as gaudy to Mahomes even though Montana would’ve had staggering numbers in today's game.
Where I would give Mahomes the edge over Montana just slightly is he can do everything Montana can do, but, when you need your quarterback to run you the football on a big play to get the first down or some yardage he’s capable of utilizing his legs in the biggest moments.
He’s shown time and time again throughout his career and has a (15-3) playoff record and is (9-2) when trailing seven points or more in the playoffs including the Super Bowl 58 victory.
He’s the NFL’s ultimate comeback king even when his team was offensively challenged, he still found a way to get it done.
He’s third all-time among quarterbacks in playoffs wins with 15 which is one behind Montana at 16 and 20 behind Brady who has 35.
With Mahomes being just 28 years of age he surely has a chance to surpass both of them, he most certainly will pass Montana next season and if he stays healthy throughout his career and they keep a solid team around him he can catch Brady.
What Mahomes has done throughout the first six years of his career as a starter and seven overall in the NFL is unprecedented, mythical, and breathtaking.
Comparison is the thief of joy, which is why many Brady and Patriot fans are trying to downplay his accomplishments. But let's not do that, let’s embrace the generational greatness that we are witnessing because it might be the best start to a sports career in the modern-day era.