Mahomes Accomplished One Thing: He Solidified Brady’s Legacy in Loss to Eagles
The Tom Brady vs Patrick Mahomes argument took a massive hit Sunday night.
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Anyone from New England who watched Sunday night’s debacle between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles saw Patrick Mahomes do something we probably didn’t expect.
He further solidified Tom Brady’s legacy.
Mahomes could have come out firing Sunday night, putting together another big outing against an Eagles team he beat on this stage a few years ago. It could have been another deja-vu story of a Philadelphia team being overmatched against a talented quarterback who proved to the masses that he’s on his way to possibly reaching what certainly feels like a benchmark no one will reach.
Instead, that wasn’t at all the case. Mahomes and the Chiefs came out flat Sunday night against an Eagles team that came out swinging and never let up until the final whistle during a 40-22 beatdown to win Super Bowl LIX.
They dominated Kansas City’s offensive line and executed the formula that kept Mahomes at bay, both keeping him inside the pocket while bringing pressure up the middle. That prevented Mahomes from ever settling in and being able to find the time to make the off-script plays that have bailed the Chiefs out so many times.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, that didn’t happen Sunday night.
“They played great, there’s no way around it,” said Mahomes after the game. “They played great from start to finish. They got after it. Defensive line played really well. The DBs played well to compliment them and linebackers as well.”
Mahomes had a rough first half, completing just 6-of-14 for 33 yards and threw two interceptions, one of which the Eagles returned for a touchdown as they built a 17-0 lead that essentially saw them take control of the game on that play. To make matters worse, when Kansas City got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, they immediately went three and out.
As the Chiefs came off the field after that series, it was clear they felt the heat and didn’t seem to have any answers. Even worse, after stopping the Eagles on the ensuing drive, Mahomes immediately went out and threw another interception deep in his own end after left tackle Joe Thuney was driven back and collided with him as Mahomes was releasing the football.
That gave Philadelphia the ball at the Chiefs 14, and two plays later they were in the end zone, extending the Eagles’ lead to 24-0.
“I can’t turn the ball over early in the game when it’s not going our way,” said Mahomes. “And I’ll have to learn from that and try to be better the next opportunity that I hopefully get.”
Fans in New England have seen that situation play out before, but obviously with significantly different results. Brady threw a pick-six in the first half of their come-from-behind win over the Falcons to cap off their title at the end of the 2016 season. That turnover saw the Patriots go into the locker room down 21-3, with things looking pretty bleak given the deficit they were up against. But even as bad as it was, Brady still completed 16-of-26 for 184 yards along with that interception.
Mahomes, meanwhile, went into the locker room Sunday night at the half having completed just 6-of-14 for 33 yards and his 2 turnovers. He finished the night overall 21-of-32 for 257 yards along with adding three meaningless touchdowns after the Eagles were already up 34-0 late in the third quarter.
Overall, while a slow start isn’t unusual, Mahomes and the Chiefs never showed any signs of life, seemingly believing they were going to coast their way to their third-straight championship. Obviously, the Eagles had other plans.
Despite the halftime edge, head coach Nick Siriani said that the plan coming back out was essentially to start over as if things were back to 0-0.
“We made sure that everyone was resting at first, but one of the things we talked about, be ready for anything,” said Siriani during his press conference. “Be ready for different and exotic things. Things to make them try to get back into the game, but one thing that we really focused on and studied a bunch was the way that they can get back into this game. Us going three-and-out on offense, having sacks, having penalties, turning the ball over, and for explosive plays to happen on offense. I just thought we did a great job of handling that.”
“We truly were playing it like this is the second game, zero-zero. If we win this one, we’re going to win this game. The guys were focused and locked in.”
Coming into the second half, the belief by most was that Andy Reid and Mahomes would put together a plan that would force the Eagles to brace for an onslaught that never came. Instead, Philadelphia continued pounding away, and it wasn’t until they let up slightly after the game was well in hand that Mahomes found a couple of moments to make a few plays.
But other than Xavier Worthy, there was no energy or any fire from anyone on the Chiefs’ offense. Tight end Travis Kelce, someone who was supposed to be among the leaders on offense, looked completely dejected coming off the field at halftime.
Unlike Brady, you didn’t see Mahomes up on the sideline going up and down the bench, trying to get them going. Instead, you saw a Chiefs team that looked shell-shocked all night, with the game ultimately uglier than the final score revealed.
Say what you want about Mahomes and what he’s accomplished. He’s still among the best to ever play, with players like Peyton Manning having been no stranger to great regular seasons that ended up with an embarrassing blowout in the Super Bowl. Mahomes three wins at such a young age already gives him the edge in that category and he’s certainly accomplished more already than most quarterbacks could ever hope to in their careers.
However, while Brady found himself on the wrong end of three of his own Super Bowl losses, all were games where he went down swinging to the final whistle, and one was where he put up insane numbers in a loss where his defense simply couldn’t stop anyone.
But the one that stands out in comparison to this one was the game in Atlanta that had similarities to this one. Still, unlike Mahomes, as bad as that 28-3 deficit felt at the time, Brady never let up when it came to the urgency he needed to get his club back in the game. He even joked, “How many times have we ever gotten blown out?” during his appearance on WEEI that week.
On the other hand, Brady is also no stranger to physical beatings like Mahomes faced Sunday night. In that first loss against New York to spoil what would have been a 19-0 season, Brady was knocked around and faced unbelievable pressure by the Giants defense. Both times, he fought back, taking each of those contests down to the wire despite what ultimately were two disappointing outcomes.
A blowout loss might ultimately be the same as a close defeat when it comes to the record books. But when it comes to player comparisons, it definitely means something.
For now, Mahomes went into Sunday night trying to set himself apart from the guy who set the bar. Instead, he leaves New Orleans on the wrong end of yet another Super Bowl blowout, which now bookends the one Brady previously dealt him in another convincing defeat four years ago.
He never beat Brady back when it mattered most, and there was no magical comeback on Sunday night. He also learned the hard way that greatness is a little tougher than he may have thought.
In fact, after this latest loss, Brady’s legacy not only remains intact, but Mahomes ended up doing something he probably hadn’t intended.
He further widened the gap between the two of them. While Mahomes might be hoping for another shot at redemption, his performance Sunday night certainly reminded us that there’s only one GOAT, and barring five more Super Bowl victories, any chance of Mahomes ever overtaking Brady in that category just went completely out the window.
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