Why the Chiefs QB is on pace to be the GOAT
When Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes the field for Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, he’ll have an opportunity to do what no quarterback has done in NFL history: Win three Super Bowls in a row.
The Chiefs’ appearance in the game is a record in itself, as no team has made five Super Bowls in a six-year span before this season.
While Kansas City has had several key contributors during this run — such as head coach Andy Reid, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones, to name only a few — the team’s success is spearheaded by Mahomes.
The Chiefs drafted Mahomes in 2017 and made him their starting quarterback the next year. In that season, Mahomes threw 50 touchdowns and won MVP. Since he entered the league, Mahomes has won two MVPs, three Super Bowl MVPs and has made at least the AFC championship game in every season as a starter.
Mahomes has lost only three times in 20 playoff games, and two of those have been at the hands of the consensus Greatest of All Time: New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.
Brady bested Mahomes in the 2018 AFC championship with the Patriots and then again with the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
When Brady — who, ironically, will be calling Sunday’s game for Fox — retired, it felt as though it would take a very long time for any player to match his record seven Super Bowl rings. And yet, through the first eight seasons of his career, not only is Mahomes on pace with Brady in terms of championships — he has a chance to eclipse him.
Take a look at Mahomes’s stats through his first eight seasons compared with Brady’s:
As you can see, Mahomes has a clear edge over Brady in nearly every single statistical category relevant to quarterbacks. Some of that can be attributed to the eras each QB spent their first eight seasons in, though it also paints a picture as to how dominant and well-rounded Mahomes has been so far.
Notably, these stats don’t include Sunday’s game, which means Mahomes actually has a chance to pull ahead of Brady’s Super Bowl pace. If the Chiefs win Super Bowl LIX, Mahomes will have four championships in his first eight seasons compared to Brady’s three.
One more win alone may not be enough to make Mahomes the GOAT. But regardless of the result on Sunday, Mahomes’s case for the title is stacking up nicely as enters the next eight years of his career.
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