Gene Frenette: Mahomes' Super Bowl greatness doesn't mean he belongs on Tom Brady pedestal

Patrick Mahomes is indisputably the greatest player in the NFL, separating himself from whomever is No. 2 by the widest margin ever after the way he orchestrated the Kansas City Chiefs’ third Super Bowl triumph under Andy Reid.

Sunday’s 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers — ensuring back-to-back Super Bowls for the first time since the New England Patriots pulled it off in Jacksonville nearly two decades ago — was a Mahomes masterpiece.

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The Chiefs’ legendary quarterback overcame a more pedestrian surrounding offensive cast to win this Super Bowl than any of the others. When his career is over, this may go down as his quintessential achievement.

Mahomes won two road playoff games for the first time, erased a 10-point Super Bowl deficit for a third time, and beat the 49ers after KC scored just three first-half points and with him throwing a terrible interception on the first third quarter series.

It was fitting Mahomes became the first quarterback since Tom Brady to win a third Super Bowl by age 28 (Brady did it at 27 years, 6 months), the only QB besides Brady to rally his team from a double-digit deficit to win the big game in overtime, and joined Brady and Joe Montana as three-time SB MVPs.

But let’s not get carried away just yet about where Mahomes belongs in the pantheon of NFL quarterbacks.

Seven seasons into a magnificent career, at 28 years, 5- months-old, it’s fair to say he has earned a place among the five or six greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.

Go ahead and put him in the G.O.A.T. conversation if it makes you and Chiefs kingdom feel better, but anyone making Mahomes the G.O.A.T. over Brady is getting way ahead of the story.

Let history play out

This is what happens in the euphoric aftermath of an enthralling Super Bowl, featuring Mahomes as the trigger man of a victory that made him the NFL’s fifth three-time Super Bowl championship quarterback.

It compels football observers in and out of the media to make bold pronouncements, such as anointing Mahomes as the greatest to play his position because all his pertinent numbers through seven seasons are on par or just ahead of Brady at the same career juncture.

Check out this tweet from former NFL receiver Torrey Smith right after No. 15 won his third Super Bowl: “I think I’m comfortable calling Mahomes the GOAT. I’ve seen enough. I’m not being a prisoner of the moment either. He is different.”

Yes, Mahomes is different. He’s more athletic, improvisational and riveting to watch than Brady, but Smith is also guilty of recency bias with that tweet.

The idea of putting Mahomes on the same level with Brady, who has six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots and another at age 43 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the very definition of premature. Remember when Tiger Woods, about seven years into his PGA Tour career, was supposed to blow past Jack Nicklaus and win 25 majors?

It’s one thing for Mahomes to be on a Brady-like pace after seven seasons, but quite another to assume his .770 regular-season win percentage (74-22) and .833 playoff win percentage (15-3) will remain ahead of Brady if he plays another 10 seasons.

Three Super Bowl rings is still less than half of seven. Mahomes leading his team to six AFC West division titles is still not one-third of Brady leading the Patriots and Bucs to 19 division crowns.

Oh, let’s also not forget, Brady is 3-2 head-to-head against Mahomes and won both postseason matchups, including a 31-9 beatdown Tampa Bay administered in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium.

As Mahomes himself said after beating the 49ers, when asked about where he belongs in comparison to Brady: “To me, it will always be tough because Brady beat me in the Super Bowl.”

Apparently, this potential G.O.A.T. contender recognizes what all-time greatness looks like and where he belongs in history for the moment.

Hold off on Mahomes legacy

Rather than put some kind of official stamp on Mahomes’ legacy now, can we just appreciate the magnitude of what he did to rally the Chiefs from another 10-point deficit against San Francisco on football’s biggest stage like in 2019?

It wasn’t quite Brady’s all-time recovery in overcoming a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, but this spectacle of Mahomes magic on the game-tying drive near the end of regulation and to win it in overtime certainly put him in rarefied air.

One mistake by Mahomes or his teammates on any one of 24 plays during those two possessions would have gifted the Lombardi trophy to San Francisco.

On season-defining marches, Mahomes converted four third downs (three passing, one on a 19-yard run) and a fourth-and-1 on a designed QB option keeper for 8 yards. The clutch 22-yard strike to tight end Travis Kelce, on third-and-7 from the SF 33 with 10 seconds left in regulation, made it a chip-shot, tying field goal for Harrison Butker.

Perhaps no quarterback in NFL history is Mahomes’ equal for his ability to improvise in big moments. At last year’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, it was Mahomes’ 26-yard scramble to the Philly 17 that set up Butker’s game-winning field goal in a 38-35 thriller.

Four years ago, trailing the 49ers 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Mahomes triggered three consecutive TD drives by suggesting to Reid that the Chiefs run the famous “Wasp” play. That 44-yard completion to Tyreek Hill jump-started a 31-20 victory in his first Super Bowl trip.

No question, Mahomes’ first seven seasons rival Brady, who was 70-24 as a starter and 13-3 in playoffs at the time. He would go a full decade before winning his fourth Super Bowl, then remarkably lifted three more Lombardi trophies at ages 39, 41 and 43.

Brady holds the all-time passing yards and touchdowns total records over Drew Brees by 8,856 yards and 78 TD, respectively. His 286 combined wins as a starter, playoffs included, is miles ahead of second-place Peyton Manning (200). Mahomes is 89-25 (.780), so he’s setting a phenomenal pace.

It’s better to wait another decade, if Mahomes even plays that long, to determine his place on some kind of quarterback Mount Rushmore.

Just enjoy the entertaining ride Patrick Lavon Mahomes II has been on so far. Save the G.O.A.T. stuff for when he’s truly neck-and-neck with Brady.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540  

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Mahome can become GOAT, but wait before putting him on par with Brady