Patrick Mahomes did what great players do. Even when facing the best defense in the NFL, even when struggling in the first half, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback got resourceful and played with desperation in his team’s 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 54.
Yes, he threw two interceptions. Those interceptions were almost 100 percent on Mahomes, and because of those turnovers, his stats weren’t pretty (26/42, 286 passing yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs). On paper, Jimmy Garoppolo looked competitive with Mahomes.
But the Chiefs quarterback’s play in the fourth quarter was special, with clutch passes to open receivers and careful and clinical drives to take the lead and overcome a 10-point deficit. That’s what set Mahomes apart. That’s what helped the Chiefs win the game. That’s what has put Mahomes’ career on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
Mahomes did what made him famous. He made difficult passes look easy. There were a few examples of Mahomes going deep — and perhaps surprisingly few examples — with Mahomes connecting with Tyreek Hill for a 44-yarder and Sammy Watkins for a 38-yarder. Those fourth-quarter plays marked a shift in the game, with Kansas City struggling to generate the explosive plays that defined their offense for the last two seasons.
The pass to Watkins, in particular, was impressive. Mahomes simply flicked his wrist and lofted the ball to Watkins, who had beaten 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman with safety Jimmy Ward helping over the top. There’s no doubt Sherman would have made Mahomes pay for an underthrow. An overthrow could have gone incomplete or to Ward for an interception. Mahomes lofted the ball into the right place, and executed a play that served as a turning point in the game.
Even open receivers can be hard to hit — Garoppolo, for example, failed to hit receiver Emmanuel Sanders on a deep route after he’d beaten two defensive backs on the 49ers’ penultimate drive. Had Garoppolo hit that pass, the 49ers might have taken a fourth-quarter lead. That’s the kind of throw that Mahomes makes routinely. Even in a game when he wasn’t hitting them, he found a way to connect in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes even reminded Super Bowl viewers that his special athletic abilities extend beyond his arm — he can extend plays with his legs. Mahomes rushed nine times for 29 yards and a touchdown. He also eluded the pass rush and completed clutch passes with defenders draped around his legs.
To the 49ers’ credit, they did limit the amount of special plays from Mahomes. They rushed Mahomes well with four players — that has proven the only form of kryptonite for Mahomes. When a four-man rush can pressure him, he has issues. That’s how the 49ers built their 10-point lead. Mahomes struggled against that pressure. They were sacking and hitting the quarterback, who couldn’t find the receivers who are so dangerous with the balls in their hands.
He struggled until it mattered. When the Chiefs’ defeat began to feel imminent, Mahomes flipped a 10-point deficit to an 11-point victory. In 2018, he set NFL records for prolific passing. In 2019, he nabbed a Super Bowl. We have exhausted the conversation about how he is one of the most physically impressive quarterbacks ever. After two NFL seasons, he’s entering the conversation as one of the greatest of all time.
