Patrick Mahomes’ Path To Greatness Won’t Be Perfect
Feb 8, 2021, 9:38 AM | Updated: 9:39 am
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Super Bowl 55 reminded me of a lot of things…
1. Don’t ever doubt Tom Brady (how many times must I learn this lesson?)
2. Patrick Mahomes is human.
3. Greatness is a tough, tough thing thing to achieve.
I’m not going to touch much on #1, Jason Ross wrote a great piece for us on what this means for Brady, read it after you’re done with this.
Let’s get to #2. Patrick Mahomes. The single greatest arm-talent I think the sport has ever seen. In his first 3 full seasons as a starter in Kansas City, Mahomes has lead the Chiefs to a 37-8 (.822) regular season record to go along with his incredibly impressive 6-2 playoff record, his only 2 playoff losses coming at the hands of Mr. TB12. All of those numbers, along with the routinely ridiculous weekly highlight of Patrick Mahomes looking like he’s playing street ball against his little cousins, have lead us all to the same conclusion. Greatness.
What we saw in Super Bowl 55 was something I don’t think any of us expected to see. Patrick Mahomes was not be able to be great. It was not the Patrick Mahomes we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. He had flashes, dont get me wrong.
But he was never able to find his rhythm with the relentless pass-rush from Tampa Bay, who was in Mahomes face ALL NIGHT LONG.
Mahomes was pressured on 29 of his 56 dropbacks, good for 52% of his total dropbacks. It was also good for the most pressures against any QB in the Super Bowl in NFL history. These already insane stats are somehow made even more impressive knowing that Mahomes, while running for his life, was dealing with turf toe.
For those who don’t know, turf toe basically means you have 9 functional toes. Doesn’t seem ideal.
Clearly hobbled and with an offensive line who couldn’t contain pressure, Mahomes, and the Chiefs, didn’t really ever seem to have a chance. His will, and whatever medication given so he can’t feel his feet, showed me that even at his absolute very worst, he can still dazzle and you can see the greatness in him. We can come to expect him to be playing in this very game for what could be the next 20 years of our lives (you can never tell these days) I’m sure of that.
I’m not sure how history will remember this game. Will it be known as Brady, by force of greatness, propelling a middling franchise to the summit in just one season? Will this be a blemish on Mahomes’ legacy? Will this Buccaneers defense be remembered as one of the most talented from this era?
Only time will tell. I for one, won’t be counting out Patrick Mahomes.
