With the quarterback broadly thought of the best of all-time watching from the Fox broadcast sales space Sunday, Kansas Metropolis’s Patrick Mahomes had the chance to perform a feat not even Tom Brady might boast.
As a substitute, Mahomes and the Chiefs left New Orleans with their ambitions of a 3rd consecutive Tremendous Bowl title thwarted by Philadelphia in a 40-22 loss in Tremendous Bowl 59.
The defeat pauses the controversy that had surrounded the two-week lead-up to the sport: May Mahomes, at 29 years previous and solely eight years into his profession, be on tempo to surpass Brady because the NFL’s GOAT — best of all time — quarterback?
Statistically, Mahomes entered holding the higher hand when in comparison with Brady after their eighth NFL seasons. After retiring with seven Tremendous Bowl titles, Brady was ending his first 12 months as an analyst for Fox.
Mahomes is now 3-2 in Tremendous Bowls, with Brady 7-3 all-time. Each owned a 3-2 document after their first 5 Tremendous Bowl appearances; over the identical span, Brady threw for a mixed 9 touchdowns in opposition to two interceptions, with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for Mahomes.
“Anytime you lose a Tremendous Bowl, it’s the worst feeling on the planet,” Mahomes stated. “It’ll stick to you the remainder of your profession. These would be the two losses that may encourage me to be even higher the remainder of my profession.”
Mahomes is now 17-4 all-time within the postseason. His two interceptions tied a career-high within the playoffs and led to 14 factors for Philadelphia.
“He’s a human being, man,” Chiefs receiver DeAndre Hopkins stated. “And I assume the world acquired to see that.”
The loss did nothing to low cost what put Mahomes within the dialog within the first place: his three Tremendous Bowl titles, all after trailing by 10 factors, and a Brady-like unflappability in clutch moments that noticed him assist Kansas Metropolis win 17 consecutive one-score video games. Kansas Metropolis had already made NFL historical past by advancing to a fifth Tremendous Bowl in six years, and was making an attempt to match the Inexperienced Bay Packers — who gained the final NFL championship in 1965, and the primary two Tremendous Bowls in 1966-67 — as league champions for 3 straight seasons.
However Sunday contained in the Superdome in New Orleans, Mahomes appeared as weak on an enormous stage as he had for the reason that 2020 Tremendous Bowl, coincidentally in opposition to Brady and Tampa Bay.
In that sport, Tampa allowed Mahomes little time to course of its defensive scheme or determine holes for large features, pressuring him on 16 of his 46 drop-backs on which Tampa used 4 pass-rushers, in accordance with NFL information.
4 years later, Philadelphia adopted an analogous blueprint for achievement, sacking Mahomes a career-high six occasions. The Eagles recorded a “stress” — a metric the league defines as any pass-rush play the place the rusher impacts the quarterback earlier than the go is thrown — on 38% of Mahomes’ go makes an attempt, regardless of by no means blitzing, in accordance with the NFL’s NextGen Stats. The Eagles relied on zone protection, which Mahomes usually excels at selecting aside, however underneath relentless stress from Philadelphia, he by no means had the time Sunday.
Brady cemented his standing as a consensus decide because the NFL’s best quarterback in 2017, when he led New England to a Tremendous Bowl victory over Atlanta after trailing 28-3, the biggest rally within the sport’s historical past. Mahomes was unable to dig out of a deficit that reached 24-0 at halftime, when he had simply 33 yards passing, after which 34-0 late within the third quarter.
Mahomes “stayed constructive your entire time, saved preventing, led by instance, performed his tail off each single snap this sport,” Chiefs heart Creed Humphrey stated.
Andrew Greif
Andrew Greif is a contract sports activities journalist.