Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady: Tale of the Tape After Six NFL Seasons

Patrick Mahomes notched the second Super Bowl victory of his young, but already accomplished career on Sunday, leading the Chiefs to a 38–35 victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Given the star quarterback’s rise to the top of the league so early in his career, some observers already have begun to wonder if the 27-year-old might one day rival the legendary Tom Brady.

Brady, who recently announced his retirement from the NFL for good, has an unparalleled résumé with seven Super Bowl titles to his name, leaving Mahomes well behind him in the current day. However, it took Brady more than two decades to earn his status as football’s greatest, which begs the question: is Mahomes on a Brady-like trajectory through his first six seasons in the league?

Neither quarterback started as a rookie, making a comparison between Brady’s output from 2000 to ’05 and Mahomes’s from ’17 to ’22 possible. Brady went on to win a Super Bowl in his second year, while Mahomes hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in his third year.

Here’s a closer look at how Brady and Mahomes stack up after their first six seasons in the NFL.

Super Bowl Victories

Brady: 3 (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX). Mahomes: 2 (LIV, LVII)

Super Bowl MVPs

Brady: 2 (XXXVI, XXXVIII). Mahomes: 2 (LIV, LVII)

Conference Championship Appearances

Brady: 3 (2001, ’03, ’04). Mahomes: 5 (2018, ’19, ’20, ’21, ’22)

Conference Championship Victories

Brady: 3 (2001, ’03, ’04). Mahomes: 3 (2019, ’20, ’22)

Regular Season Starting Record

Brady: 58–20 (78 starts). Mahomes: 64–16 (80 starts)

NFL MVP Awards

Brady: 0. Mahomes: 2 (2018, ’22)

All-Pro Teams

Brady: Second-team (2005). Mahomes: First-team (2018, ’22), Second-team (2020)

Passing Yards

Brady: 18,035. Mahomes: 24,241

Touchdown Passes

Brady: 123. Mahomes: 192

Completion Percentage

Brady: 61.9%. Mahomes: 66.3%

Interceptions

Brady: 66. Mahomes: 49

It’s important to note that Brady’s first six years in the NFL came in a far different era for the league than in the pass-heavy NFL that Mahomes has dominated to begin his career. Brady’s early Patriots teams also were led by star-studded defenses, as opposed to Mahomes’s high-octane offenses in Kansas City. 

Mahomes also only has those six years to analyze thus far, whereas Brady went on to play for almost another two decades in the league. During that span, he ran his Super Bowl total up to seven championships, establishing himself as the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history. 

Even Mahomes pointed to the recently retired signal-caller when asked if he’d thought about ever passing Brady as the greatest of all time.

“I’m trying to catch Tom,” Mahomes told reporters Thursday ahead of Super Bowl LVII. “But Tom’s a long ways away. You can ask me when I’m like 38 years old.”

Though he may have a long, long way to go to catch Brady, Mahomes is already off to a sensational start that will make the rest of his career an absolute necessity to follow.