“He can do everything Brady can do and more.”
Tom Brady went 2-0 in his career against Patrick Mahomes in the postseason. Matthew J. Lee / The Boston Globe
The debate is already underway.
With Patrick Mahomes leading the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in his six full seasons as Kansas City’s QB1, the 28-year-old single-caller has already established himself as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
Mahomes’ resume speaks for itself: two Super Bowl titles, two Super Bowl MVPs, four Super Bowl appearances, two regular-season MVPs, and six straight AFC Championship Game appearances.
But even if Mahomes warrants conversation for being either in or above the company of other legendary QBs like Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, John Elway, Joe Montana, etc., is he really all that close to the consensus greatest to ever do it in Tom Brady?
Following Kansas City’s 17-10 victory over the Ravens on Sunday, debating said comparison has already become a hot topic among national media outlets — and it sure feels like it’s going to be a regular talking point in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LVIII.
If you ask Hall-of-Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, he’s taking Mahomes over Brady in a hypothetical matchup on the gridiron.
“I’m taking Mahomes because he can do everything Brady can do and more,” Sharpe said on ESPN’s “First Take” on Monday. “Because of his legs [and] his ability. We’ve seen it time and time again. We saw him do great runs against the Texans when they were down 24-0 [in the 2019 playoffs]. We saw him against the Tennessee Titans go down. We saw him take off in the Super Bowl last year on a bum ankle against the Philadelphia Eagles and pick up a key first down… We saw it again yesterday.
“We saw him time and time again get himself out of harm’s way. The way he can change arm angles. The way he can throw the ball, roll left, roll right, throw the ball with accuracy and throw the ball over the top of your head. We’re talking in the first seven seasons, the guy is 70 touchdowns ahead of Brady.”
For the sake of argument, Brady and Mahomes did meet twice in the postseason before Brady opted to hang up his spikes last February.
Brady emerged victorious in both matchups against the Chiefs, beating Mahomes in the AFC Championship Game in Jan. 2019 before taking down Kansas City in Super Bowl LV, 31-9, while playing for the Buccaneers two years later.
Mahomes deserves full credit for the career he’s already crafted for himself. But it remains to be seen if he can mimic the longevity that Brady used to maintain his elite level of play for over two decades.
Even with a win over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, Mahomes would still trail Brady in Super Bowl titles by four.
