Super Bowl 59 was defined by AI halftime commercials, celebrity cameos, and a betting line of 6.5 appearances for Taylor Swift—nearly double Travis Kelce’s total receptions for the night. However, the most important narrative shift of the night had nothing to do with Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or Travis Kelce’s love life. When the green and white confetti fell as the Eagles completed their revenge tour, the Mahomes-Brady comparisons ended.
For the past few years, the question of whether Patrick Mahomes could ever surpass Tom Brady as the greatest quarterback in NFL history has overtaken lunch tables, writers’ rooms, and sports news shows. Patrick Mahomes has had one of the most dominant starts to a career since the inception of professional football. After becoming the Kansas City Chiefs’ full-time starting quarterback in 2018, Mahomes led his team to five Super Bowls in just eight seasons, tying Brady for the second-most appearances by a quarterback in NFL history.
With this impressive start, Mahomes was on the path to being crowned as the greatest quarterback of all time. However, with this exciting expectation came an equally potent disappointment, as Mahomes delivered one of the worst statistical performances by a quarterback in Super Bowl history against the Eagles. This wasn’t just any other Super Bowl loss. With eight minutes left in the game, the Chiefs went down 40-6 and Mahomes had a not-so-impressive stat line of 148 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a lost fumble while completing a meager 12 of 22 passes.
Mahomes ended with a passer rating of 52.8, the third-worst in Super Bowl history behind Ben Roethlisberger and John Elway in 2006 and 1998 respectively. The difference? Roethlisberger and Elway won their games. This is nothing compared to his passer rating of 10.7 at halftime, which would have put him on pace to land below Roethlisberger’s 22.6 rating. Mahomes finally salvaged his stat line late in the fourth quarter—after the Eagles had already let off the gas and dumped Gatorade on Nick Sirianni.
The results of this game raise the question: is it still worth debating Mahomes vs. Brady? This is not to say Patrick Mahomes could never surpass Tom Brady’s legacy. However, Mahomes went from potentially becoming the first quarterback to three-peat to having one of the worst Super Bowl performances in history. It is time for the GOAT debate to be tabled. Mahomes has a long way to go before he can be compared to Brady.
It’s worth asking whether the debates were ever justified, or if everyone was too swept up in Mahomesanity to ask if he has even passed Joe Montana yet. Many football fans would argue that you cannot completely blame Mahomes for the loss. Despite never blitzing, the Eagles’ defensive line generated a staggering 38% pressure rate, making it impossible for Mahomes to make a play.
However, this is a situation that Mahomes normally takes in stride. Fans are used to seeing him scramble out of the pocket under pressure, make crafty plays, throw sidearm, diving, left-handed, behind the back, and do anything for the first down during the regular season. This creativity was nonexistent in the Super Bowl, giving way to poor pocket presence and sacks that worsened the Chiefs’ struggles.
Importantly, Mahomes’s second-worst Super Bowl performance was against 45-year-old Tom Brady. He has come up short against Brady both times they clashed in the postseason. When Tom Brady faced a significant deficit in the Super Bowl, he exceeded expectations and led his team to victory. When he faced Mahomes in the postseason, the result was always the same—Brady won. We need to question how much credit we give Mahomes for his wins and hold him accountable for his Super Bowl losses. Despite having a 3-2 in Super Bowl record, Mahomes still has a -23 point differential across all five games.
This is not meant to say that Mahomes is not a generation-defining quarterback. With his early career accomplishments and impact on the game, his performance is unlikely to be replicated anytime soon. If Mahomes plans to stay in the league as long as Tom Brady, he could have another 16 years of football left, enough time to close the distance in the GOAT debate. What matters most now is how Mahomes responds to this defeat—a blemish on his resume that Brady never had. This Super Bowl loss marks the beginning of the second era of Mahomes’s career–one that will define his legacy. What he does in this next chapter will determine whether he becomes yet another shadow of Tom Brady’s legacy or the subject of a similar debate in 20 years as the next generational talent emerges to challenge the throne.
David Daniel ’28 (david_daniel@college.harvard.edu) just wants the Packers to find a kicker.