Super Bowl 57: Patrick Mahomes wins second title to show he's Tom Brady's NFL successor
- Published
For more than two decades, whenever anyone talked about the NFL they'd always mention Tom Brady, the GOAT, the serial winner who transcended the sport and dominated the headlines.
Well, Brady has gone now, retired for good this time, and the NFL needs a new hero. And on a crazy night in Arizona at a Super Bowl that put every fantastic aspect of the NFL on show, Patrick Mahomes showed just why he's first in line for the vacated GOAT throne.
Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, collected his second league MVP earlier in Super Bowl week, then went on to add his second Lombardi Trophy and his second MVP award in the big game as well.
Aged just 27 and now with all that silverware tucked away already, coupled with an affable personality that belies a laser-focus and fearsome desire to win, it's easy to see where the Brady comparisons come from.
So, while his style of play is at times the polar opposite of Brady's there are more than enough common factors, and now a decent comparison in terms of winning, to suggest that the NFL is in good hands with Mahomes as the main man.
Mahomes shows that GOAT mentality in Super Bowl success
It was a thrilling 38-35 Kansas City Chiefs success over the Philadelphia Eagles in Arizona in a game that swung one way then the other, where Mahomes and his side were up against it time and time again, but found a way to win.
And it's that finding a way, any way, to grab a victory that separates the good from the great - and Mahomes had to produce a very different performance from the usual to get the job done and pocket his second Super Bowl ring.
Super Bowl 57: Watch Kansas City Chiefs' locker room celebrations
The man who set a new offensive yards record this season, with 5,614, had a season-low 182 passing yards in this game but he hit the target when it counted with three touchdown throws.
Jalen Hurts was a one-man highlight reel in opposition, rushing for a Super Bowl record hat-trick of touchdowns himself and passing for 304 yards, including two 45-yard bombs to AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.
But while Hurts dominated the stat line, Mahomes went home with the win.
The difference? Small margins always decide these big games, and when it came down to the crucial plays Mahomes made them - with his legs, damaged ankle and all. All six of his runs ended with wincing from Chiefs followers as he hobbled away from heavy tackles, yet he put his body on the line time and again.
And when it really, really mattered, right at the death, he produced a 26-yard run full of guts and character and that never-say-die attitude that set the team up for the winning field goal.
Mahomes didn't show the arm talent, the trick throws, the gaudy stat lines that have made his name, but a new side to him, that GOAT mentality to get the job done, whatever it takes, and the best compliment you can give him is that in that sense, there was a lot of Brady about it.
How does Mahomes compare to Brady at this stage?
In style, they could hardly be more different, with Brady the ultimate pocket passer, a cerebral assassin who would often have the defence beaten before the ball was in his hands - who would find the weak spots and punish them accordingly.
Mahomes is a freestyler, playing backyard football at times that has seen him throw the ball at unique angles that we've just never seen before - sidearm, underarm, we've even seen him throw it left handed!
The Chiefs quarterback is also a nifty runner, which Brady most certainly was not, but what they both have in common is the most important trait - and that's winning.
Mahomes joins Brady, Peyton Manning and Joe Montana as the only players with multiple Super Bowl wins and multiple league MVP titles - that's a very special achievement.
When Brady was 27 he collected his third Super Bowl title. Mahomes is picking up his second but also from three Super Bowl appearances. Mahomes is ahead in terms of league MVPs though because Brady was still without the first of his three at 27.
"I'm trying to catch Tom, but Tom's a long way away, ask me when I'm like 38 years old," Mahomes said in the build-up to the Super Bowl, referencing the fact Brady won four Super Bowls from aged 37 onwards.
Mahomes still has a long way to go, but right now he's the only one who seems to have even a sniff of a chance of catching the retired Brady's records.
Don't call it a dynasty - but Reid & Mahomes are dominating
"I'm not talking dynasty yet, we're not done, so I'm not talking dynasty yet."
Mahomes' response was expected because talking of this Chiefs regime as a dynasty does suggest it's ended. But while he's at quarterback and Andy Reid is the head coach then the team always looks to have a chance.
Getting to five straight AFC Championship games, at home, is unprecedented and even something the New England Patriots couldn't manage - it shows a level of consistency and excellence that's usually unattainable as the NFL, with a draft and salary cap, is set up to prevent such things.
Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid are building the next big NFL dynasty.
Every now and then though teams do pop up, the Patriots of Brady and Bill Belichick, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, the San Francisco 49ers of the late 1980s and early 90s and the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s are all classed as dynasty teams among NFL aficionados.
Three Super Bowls in four years, two wins, and all those home games in the AFC title means the Chiefs have been the team to beat ever since Mahomes got the starting job, so while the team doesn't want to talk about a dynasty, everyone else is.
And coach Reid deserves a special mention. 'Big Red' as he's known now has two Super Bowl wins from four appearances and 10 conference title games spread across two teams - and with 22 play-off wins he's only behind Belichick. Mahomes deservedly will get a lot of credit, but Reid also needs to be congratulated for putting together the team to beat in the NFL.
Who are Mahomes' biggest challengers to the crown?
The good news for NFL fans is we could be in for a spell for the ages in terms of exciting young quarterbacks battling it out for years to come - with a lot of them excitingly all being in the AFC, meaning they'll likely have to beat Mahomes just to get to the Super Bowl.
Joe Burrow beat Mahomes last year to get the Cincinnati Bengals into the Super Bowl, losing to the Los Angeles Rams, while Josh Allen is a special talent that should have the Buffalo Bills challenging year after year.
There's Trevor Lawrence at the Jacksonville Jaguars who pushed Mahomes all the way in the play-offs and will only improve, and let's not forget another former MVP Lamar Jackson who has injury and contract issues to sort out at the Baltimore Ravens.
Veteran Aaron Rodgers is still around, for now, but Jalen Hurts and the Eagles still look the stand-out in the NFC, and they'll be among the favourites to get right back to the Super Bowl next year to make amends.
Hurts would love another crack at beating Mahomes after a fine display in Arizona - but right now they're all pretenders and contenders to the throne that Mahomes now sits on.
Brady's records look unattainable, but his retirement leaves the position vacant as the NFL's leading light, and it's one Mahomes looks destined to fill.