Tom Brady Tips Cap to 'Incredible Competitor' KC Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Since he took over as the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, the team has always gone as far as Patrick Mahomes could take it. While Steve Spagnuolo's defense has ascended to being one of the NFL's best this year, the former is likely still the case. If Kansas City is going to win a championship, it'll likely be because of Mahomes's greatness in some way, shape or form.
Someone who has plenty of experience helping teams get to the top of the mountain is future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. His playing days may be over, but his battles with Mahomes give him some context for what Kansas City's superstar signal-caller accomplishes.
On a new episode of his Let's Go! podcast with Jim Gray and Larry Fitzgerald, Brady praised Mahomes for his recent performance against the Buffalo Bills. Citing the Divisional Round game as yet another big moment in Mahomes's career, Brady isn't the least bit surprised that the reigning NFL MVP stepped up.
"He's an incredible competitor," Brady said. "And I think it's on display in the biggest moments. I got a lot of questions before the game, 'What do you think? It's at Buffalo.' And I said, 'With a guy like Patrick, it doesn't faze him.' He doesn't care that it's in Buffalo. He wants to go out and play whoever's the best to see how he matches up, and he always seems to play his best in the big moments.
"Even the Super Bowl where we got him when we were in Tampa, he was running all over. He ran for 450 yards horizontally across the field in order to get passes off and there was kind of an onslaught of pressure but he still, in those moments, was giving his team a chance to win. From his athletic ability, his tenacity, his competitiveness, he's got so many of the intangibles. Beyond his ability to throw the ball, run it when he does — he had a great run yesterday — I think he's got these intangibles that everyone believes."
If there's one ex-player who knows what it takes to consistently achieve success, it's Brady. Regarded by many as the greatest quarterback ever, he's the one Mahomes has been on record saying he's chasing as far as legacy is concerned. Now no longer forced to compete against Mahomes, Brady is able to expand on his greatness a bit more.
Brady is right, too. Among all quarterbacks with more than 10 postseason starts, Mahomes holds the best career ranks in win percentage (.813), yards per game (312.8), passer rating (106.7) and more. Last Sunday, all he did was add to his winning rate while also completing 74% of his passes and posting a sparkling 131.6 rating in the process. He routinely rises when asked to elevate his play.
Another critical matchup for Mahomes is on the horizon. Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens project to serve as the biggest test yet along Kansas City's run through the AFC playoffs. Luckily for the Chiefs, Mahomes boasts the NFL's best-ever touchdown-to-interception ratio in conference championship games. At 14 to 2 (or a 7.00 ratio), he's head and shoulders above the next-closest players like Drew Brees (3.50), Troy Aikman (2.67) and John Elway (2.50).
At times this season, the Chiefs' Super Bowl goal seemed like more of a pipe dream than anything else. For stretches, they looked to be a Wild Card or Divisional Round exit squad rather than one set to compete in a sixth-straight AFC Championship Game. Mahomes's improvement and leadership are major driving forces in that turnaround, and Andy Reid's team is just one game away from a chance to win back-to-back titles. Brady, who won his fair share of big games in his day (and faced Mahomes in some of them), is impressed.
"He's a fierce competitor, they've got a great team, they're really well coached," Brady said. "It's been a great organization. Five, six AFC Championships, actually, in the last six years. That's pretty impressive."
