The Kansas City Chiefs, led by two-time AP MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are attempting to become the first NFL franchise to successfully complete a Super Bowl three-peat, but would such an accomplishment propel Mahomes over seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady in the GOAT debate?
GOAT Debate For NFL Quarterbacks Is Between Tom Brady And Patrick Mahomes, But What About Joe Montana?
Records are meant to be broken, but some records are less breakable than others. NFL fans cannot possibly compare Mahomes to Brady without first mentioning the original GOAT: Joe Montana. Nicknamed “Joe Cool” for his legendary Super Bowl performances, Montana threw 11 touchdowns to 0 interceptions in four Super Bowl victories.
Montana was once compared to Michael Jordan for one logical reason: He excelled under pressure and never lost a Super Bowl in his entire 15-year career. To this day, some could easily still argue that Montana will always be the true GOAT.
.@JoeMontana in the 1989 playoffs:
▪️11 TDs, 0 INTs
▪️78.3% completion rate
▪️146.4 QB rating
▪️267 yards per gameThe greatest postseason run ever by a QB? 🤔 @49ers pic.twitter.com/7fypRl3zjS
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) June 11, 2019
Montana threw 5 touchdowns to 0 interceptions in Super Bowl XXIV against the Denver Broncos, pummeling them 55-10 and finishing with a Super Bowl career-best passer-rating of 147.6.
Simply put, the NFL was not an offensive-driven league in the ’80s and ’90s. Defenders were actually allowed to play defense back then. That alone makes Montana’s TD-INT ratio in Super Bowls that much more impressive.
Brady Could Play In Any Era of Professional Football
Having said all of this, while some might take Joe Montana above anyone else to win just one random Super Bowl, many others would pick Tom Brady if they had to build a championship-caliber squad from scratch. What Brady had going for him throughout his career was his longevity.
Brady may have won seven Super Bowls and five Super Bowl MVPs, but Montana played in a more physical era of football, back when quarterbacks could get leveled and crushed by 300-pound linemen without penalty flags. Illegal contact flags were nonexistent.
A lot of NFL fans think Brady wouldn’t have survived in the ’80s or ’90s. However, people forget that Brady first started his career playing under some of the older rules in the early 2000s. Remember when Bills defensive back Nate Clements destroyed Brady near the sidelines in 2001? No penalty flag was thrown.
FREE PLAY FRIDAY: Nate Clements hit on Tom Brady vs. New England 12/16/01 #BillsMafia #GoBills pic.twitter.com/cdcP8nbP7z
— Bills TD A Day (@BillsTouchdown) June 9, 2017
Make no mistake, the era would be rough for an immobile pocket-passer like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. But note that both quarterbacks got rid of the ball fast. They were able to avoid certain injuries in their careers because of their quicker release times.
More importantly, Brady retired as the second-most sacked quarterback of all time after the 2022 season, with a total of 565 sacks. Aaron Rodgers now leads the all-time list with 571 sacks, followed by Fran Tarkenton (570).
Brady’s, Mahomes’ Super Bowl Stats
If we compare Montana’s Super Bowl stats to Brady’s, he really is the greatest of all time for having been so clutch. That now brings us to the Mahomes-Brady debate. Compare the Super Bowl stats.
In 10 career Super Bowls, Brady threw 21 touchdowns to 6 interceptions, passed for 3,039 yards, and completed 277 of 421 pass attempts. His average passer-rating was 97.7 on the grandest stage as well.
Meanwhile, in four career Super Bowls, Mahomes has thrown 7 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, passed for 1,071 yards, and completed 107 of 164 pass attempts. His average passer-rating is 85.2.
Mahomes lost 1 Super Bowl by 22 points
Peyton Manning lost 2 Super Bowls by a combined 49 points
Tom Brady lost 3 Super Bowls by a combined 15 points
The 🐐 was never out of it pic.twitter.com/JZeamcB1Z4
— TB EGO (@TomBradyEgo) April 6, 2024
For all of those wondering, Brady was never drubbed in a Super Bowl. Like him or hate him, the former sixth-round quarterback has that going for him. He also never won a Super Bowl MVP throwing 2 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. That’s what Mahomes recorded in Super Bowl LIV against the 49ers.
One could argue that Brady won Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams because he executed the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter and finished the game without a turnover. And when Brady did throw two picks in Super Bowl XLIX versus the Seahawks, he still ended the game with four touchdown passes.
Tom Brady Has More Playoff Wins, While Patrick Mahomes Has A Better Playoff Win Percentage
Then there’s playoff wins. Tom Brady finished 35-13 with a .729 win percentage. Patrick Mahomes is currently 17-3 with a .850 win percentage. Mahomes’ win percentage is better, but that could be because he’s only played in 20 games. Three of Brady’s playoff losses were when he played in his 40s.
Now it’s also time to address the elephant in the room. When Brady was drafted by the Patriots in 2000, he was selected by a team that would later go 5-11 under head coach Bill Belichick and with quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the 2000 season. TB12 didn’t have Rob Gronkowski, arguably the greatest tight end in NFL history, until 2010.
Additionally, Brady won four super bowls without Gronk. How many titles has Mahomes won without Kelce? How many without Reid? At least Tom and Peyton won a Super Bowl with another franchise.
Brady led the league in touchdown passes in 2002, and the Patriots were 11-3 with him in as the starter in the 2001 regular season. New England’s defense supposedly carried Brady to Super Bowls, while never doing so with Bledsoe, Matt Cassel, Cam Newton, or Mac Jones. Yeah, right…
Mahomes was selected 10th overall by the Chiefs in the 2017 draft out of Texas Tech. Just like Brady, he sat out his rookie season. But it needs to be said that Kansas City was already a playoff team. That honestly doesn’t get mentioned enough by media personalities these days.
This means Mahomes already had tight end Travis Kelce and a great head coach in Andy Reid, who had already led a team to a Super Bowl appearance. When Reid coached the Eagles with quarterback Donovan McNabb, the team advanced to Super Bowl XXXIX, where they lost 24-21 to Brady and the Patriots.
Chiefs Were Already A Playoff Contender Without Mahomes
The Eagles were 130-93-1 with Reid at the helm. Come on, that’s not bad at all. Kansas City also won a playoff game with quarterback Alex Smith in the 2015 season. They were competitive. The Chiefs were not yet a Super Bowl contender, but let’s not pretend and act like they were garbage.
Belichick, Brady’s long-time coach, went 36-44 as the Browns’ head coach. Until Brady came along and Bledsoe got injured, Bill hadn’t been able to lead any team to the Super Bowl as a head coach. Sure, he won two rings as the Giants’ defensive coordinator with Hall-of-Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, but that was as a coordinator.
Are we really counting rings won as a coordinator? If that’s the case, we should throw Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels into the mix since both coaches also won championships with the Pats as coordinators. Needless to say, the NFL is a league where mostly head coaches and quarterbacks get the majority of the credit for winning.
Here are some other questions that help Brady’s case in the GOAT debate: Has Patrick Mahomes ever thrown 6 touchdowns in a playoff game? Nope. Has he ever passed for over 500 yards in a Super Bowl? Nope. Has Mahomes ever recorded a 141 passer-rating in a playoff game? Nope. Brady has done all of that. How about an undefeated regular season? Nah.
However, one thing Mahomes would have on Brady is a potential three-peat. That would certainly make the GOAT debate more interesting at this point. A better Super Bowl performance would help Mahomes’ case, too. If he dominates Super Bowl LIX against the Eagles, it will add something new to the GOAT conversation.
