LAS VEGAS — If you can’t beat Patrick Mahomes, you can’t be a Super Bowl champion. He’s the guy no one can come close to winning the Lombardi Trophy right now. He is the first quarterback since Tom Brady to do so.
He’s the one chasing Tom Brady.
Brady is a goat.
Mahomes is the young GOAT.
He’s Michael Jordan, wearing a helmet and shoulder pads, playing above the rim and being unstoppable.
He’s currently three rings halfway to Jordan, tied with Troy Aikman and one behind Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. He’s Brady’s one-for-all and will hopefully play another 15 years.
He’s football’s Taylor Swift on the big stage.
Magic Mahomes again. MVP Mahomes again.
Of course, he was already thinking about a three-peat. Historic three-peat.
“We’re going to celebrate tonight, we’re going to celebrate with the parade, we’re going to do whatever we can to get back to this game next year. We’re going to try and get a three-peat,” said Mahomes, who finished 34th. He passed for 46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and had 66 rushing yards on nine carries. “Once you win the championship, the parade goes on, you get the ring, you’re no longer the champion. You have to come back with the same mentality.”
Tom Brady mentality.
Brock Purdy had just given the 49ers the lead in overtime. Next it was Mahomes’ turn.
No one in Kansas City, and probably no one in Taylor Swift’s suite, doubted him.
As OT loomed, this was the safety Justin Reid said. He’s going to get the ball back to number 15. ” ”
Mahomes having the ball last is a heartbreaking proposition for other players.
These are the moments in which he lives, when the great see order and mortals see chaos, and when the quiet heart and the fire in the belly conspire for the perfect storm. A perfect storm that brings down great rain.
He will hit you with his arms, his legs, his head, and his heart.
“I’m going to try not to get down by 10 points in this game,” the Super Bowl Comeback Kid said.
As Mahomes put the ball down the field and the clock on the scoreboard read 6 seconds, Mahomes yawned and spotted Mecole Hardman – Mecole Hardman! — Alone on the right side of the end zone for a 3-yard TD pass to give the Chiefs a dramatic 25-22 victory. “Coach Reid, he knows when to call those plays at the right time,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes rumbled twice on the drive, once for 8 yards on fourth-and-1 and then for 19 yards, driving a dagger into San Francisco’s heart, especially Kyle Shanahan’s.
Mahomes never flinches.
It never gets old for Patrick Mahomes. The thrill of victory, the addictive feeling of winning, the joy and exhilaration of celebrating with family and teammates.
Mahomes has always known winning time, and it came in the fourth quarter. His quarter.
He found Travis Kelce twice for 29 yards and Justin Watson for another 25 yards, immediately leading to first-and-goal in his fourth at-bat. However, he couldn’t find anyone open on second or third down and settled for a field goal. Chiefs 16, 49ers 16, 5:46 left.
He was mesmerized, harassed and bewildered by defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and the 49ers defense in the first half.
Mahomes committed an intentional grounding in the first half and then a gruesome interception on the first possession of the second half when Ziair Brown brought down Kelce or Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
His best moment came at the end of the first half, when he flashed to his left, crossed his body downfield to the right and hit Hardman for 52 yards.
That was before Kelce’s worst moment. Isaiah Pacheco, who scored the first goal in the No. 9, lost a fumble and Kelce was furious when he bumped into Reed on the sideline. “Let me in, I’ll score,” Reed recalled Kelce telling him.
Mahomes made everything better. Reed, Kelce and Swift were all smiles on the field when the game ended. Overtime is also Mahomes’ quarter.
“Our mindset was, ‘Let’s go win a game here,'” Mahomes said.
He won the match there. He’s only 28 years old. He’s going to torture defenses with his lead for at least another year of his 15 years. Defenses aren’t going to like that.
But we might like to see him. We should cherish him as much as we can. We won’t see anyone like him for a while.
Maybe by now.
