New Orleans – The best player at the most important position in football figures to have a pretty big impact on the result of the Super Bowl Lix.
Kansas City Chief’s Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is preparing to take his fifth crack on winning the Lombardi trophy – which would be his fourth – and it’s not a distance to notice him the most consequential player Sunday.
For his teammates, it is an extremely comforting thought.
“There are many things he does behind the scenes that people probably do not appreciate,” said the offensive line man Joe Thuney. “When I came in (2021) I always thought he was really mature. He always handled himself so well.
“He’s a fantastic player. An elite player.”
This season, Mahomes improved its passing rating to 93.5. He also threw three fewer interceptions (11 against 14) while led Chiefs to a 15-2 record and AFC’s top seed.
As a start, Mahomes, 29, have never thrown at fewer than 3,900 meters or 26 touchdowns, while he has never published a passing rating lower than 92.6.
It is that texture and his championship trunk reminiscent of another future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady.
When he won seven Super Bowls, Brady never dipped under 3,500 meters passed or 23 touchdowns during a season where he played every match, a career that also left him as NFL’s career leader in completion, farms and touchdowns.
The comparison is not lost on Thuney. He was prepared by the patriots and played with Brady for four seasons in New England.
“The time they put into the facility, day in and day out, all extra games, all the extra movie they go through, and precisely the attitude that they try to get better every day,” listed Thune when they provide similarities between the two. “The leadership, the example they canceled … I just feel very happy and lucky that I have been around my entire career.”
Mahomes are proud of a consistent strategy. But he credits the entire dressing room for the success of the franchise.
“I don’t take it for granted,” Mahomes said. “The guys we have in our dressing room have such an estimate for the process and how difficult it is to get to Super Bowl. (Every season) we really go back to the ground zero, and we work with the tail to be best that we can be . ”
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is a familiar face from his time who trains the division’s rival Denver Broncos (2019-21), and he provides a strategy that can often dictate a crime.
“How he can plan things, how he can read tendencies, get you out of your best games and force you to do things you don’t want to do, he’s one of the best on it,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes was 6-0 against Broncos during Fangio’s service there, but none of these games came on this big stage. If there is a glimpse of hope for the Eagles supporters that Mahomes may not be on his best Sunday, they can find that.
The two worst playoffs in Mahome’s career have come in Super Bowl, when he published a 78.1 rating in Super Bowl Liv (a 31-20 victory against San Francisco) and a Dismal 52.3 rating in Chiefs ’31- 9 Loss to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
“Every game has its own challenges in it. You don’t want to get too high or too low,” said Chief’s head coach Andy Reid. “If something bad happens, do you want to learn from it and move on.”
Mahomes took that kind of advice to the heart. He has since graduated at 131.8 and 99.3 in back-to-back Super Bowl victories over Philadelphia and San Francisco.
This type of improvement shows growth in Mahome’s game. Kansas City relies less on him to set up big numbers every week. Reid credits at least part of the growth of mahomes that will sit its first year and learn from the sitting Alex Smith.
“I’m not saying he couldn’t have been as big as he is now if he didn’t sit, but to have (the experience of observing) Alex Smith was something you can’t buy,” Reid said. “I think it has helped him.”
Mahomes agree.
“It was extremely important to me,” he said. “When you get into the NFL, you just don’t know what to expect. Instead of being thrown into the fire and having to figure it out on the go, I had to learn behind one of the smartest quarter slopes of all time.”
-David Gladow, Field Level Media
