Chiefs’ Living Legend Mahomes Earns Lofty Ranking Among QBs This Century

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – He passed for only 182 yards.

Quarterbacks have combined for 50 Super Bowl starts since kickoff of the 2000 season. And despite falling short of 200 passing yards, Patrick Mahomes owns the best.

mahome — Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) carries the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles in the first quarter of Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium. The Chiefs defeated the Eagles 38-35. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

That’s according to Steven Ruiz from The Ringer, who ranked in detailed fashion each of those 50 performances from bottom to top. And when all the Lombardi Trophy-shaped confetti settled on the grass, Ruiz concluded that Mahomes stood alone after leading Kansas City to a 38-35 victory in Super Bowl 57 two years ago.

“There are plenty of quarterbacks who have thrown for more yards and touchdowns in a Super Bowl,” Ruiz wrote in Wednesday’s feature on TheRinger.com, “but we have never seen a passer carry a team like Mahomes did against the Eagles in this game.”

Against the Eagles in that game, Mahomes completed 77.8 percent of his passes (21 of 27) and didn’t throw an interception. He passed for three touchdowns with no interceptions.

But Ruiz was thoughtful and diligent. He used several factors to rank the 50 Super Bowl starts this century, including the EPA per dropback. That analytic accounts for down, distance and field position to determine how many points the quarterback added to (or subtracted from) his team’s expected points on every scramble, pass or sack.

He also used passing success rate, which credits quarterbacks for gaining at least 40 percent of yards needed on first-down dropbacks, at least 60 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third or fourth downs.

“Mahomes finished with the second-highest success rate of any QB on this list,” Ruiz noted, “with nearly half of his dropbacks resulting in a first down, and only three quarterbacks have averaged more EPA per dropback in the Super Bowl this century.

“The performance is even more impressive if you consider the context. Mahomes had suffered a high ankle sprain just two weeks prior in the AFC championship game, and he aggravated the injury in the second quarter against Philadelphia.”

That wasn’t all. Ruiz said Mahomes was under pressure on 36.7 percent of his dropbacks, against a Philadelphia defense that had posted the third-most single-season sacks (70) in NFL history. It even outshined seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

“He wasn’t sacked once,” Ruiz noted, “and he averaged 6.4 yards per play when under pressure. That’s more yards than Brady averaged on all dropbacks in three of his Super Bowl wins.

“Mahomes made several ‘wow’ throws, but the most iconic play, from his most iconic title game performance, was a scramble. With just under three minutes left in a tied game and the Chiefs driving around midfield, he escaped the pocket and weaved through Philly’s defense on that bad ankle, picking up 26 yards and setting Harrison Butker up for the game-winning field goal.”

reid mahome — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid hugs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell looks on in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Feb. 12, 2023. Nfl Super Bowl Lvii Kansas City Chiefs Vs Philadelphia Eagles | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

In addition to the No. 1 ranking, here are the other four Mahomes appearances on Ruiz’s list.

No. 14, Super Bowl 58; Chiefs 25, 49ers 22

Ruiz: “The Chiefs are seemingly incapable of providing Mahomes with good pass protection in a Super Bowl. We have pressure rates for the past 15 Super Bowls—that’s 30 individual QB performances—and his five appearances all rank in the top 13. He was under pressure on a healthy 43.6 percent of his dropbacks in his second Super Bowl matchup with the 49ers, so his mobility was the driving factor in the overtime win.”

No. 18, Super Bowl 54; Chiefs 31, 49ers 20

Ruiz: “Mahomes’s first Super Bowl was rigorous. The 49ers beat the hell out of him, pressuring him on over 40 percent of his dropbacks and sacking him four times. San Francisco also picked him off twice. The first interception was fully on Mahomes, who made a desperate throw on third-and-12. The second pick was thrown slightly behind Tyreek Hill, who couldn’t handle the pass and tipped it to a 49ers defender.

“With Kansas City trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, Mahomes had no margin for error down the stretch. He didn’t really need one, though. He made throw after throw, including one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl history: his 44-yard heave to Hill to convert on third-and-15.”

No. 30, Super Bowl 55; Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9

Ruiz: “This may have been the best bad game for a quarterback in NFL history. I’m sure I’ll get accused of running PR for Mahomes after putting a zero-touchdown, multi-pick game in the top 30, but we’re ranking individual performances here, and that stat line is more of a reflection of the impossible degree of difficulty he faced in the game than any failing on his part.

“The Buccaneers pressured Mahomes on 55.4 percent of his dropbacks, and they did it without sending a true all-out blitz. Tampa Bay played a two-high zone to take away deep shots to Tyreek Hill, all while sticking tight to Travis Kelce and taking away Mahomes’s pressure relief valve.”

No. 43, Super Bowl 59; Eagles 40, Chiefs 22

Ruiz: “If not for some exceptional stat-padding in garbage time, this would have gone down as the worst performance of Mahomes’s brilliant career. The Chiefs quarterback was averaging (minus) 0.69 EPA and 4.4 yards per dropback before the game hit TruMedia’s definition of garbage time, and he had committed the two turnovers that allowed the Eagles to run away with the game early. The Cooper DeJean pick-six stands out as Mahomes’s worst play of the night.”

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