Mahomes must conquer Tom Brady’s impenetrable playoff wall in order to receive his Super Bowl blessings.
Patrick Mahomes Jr., son of a former MLB pitcher, knows the count.
It’s bases loaded, bottom of the ninth and he’s at the plate against Tom Brady. If Mahomes Jr. can muster a hit against the greatest quarterback in NFL history in an AFC Championship game on Sunday, he can lift Kansas City into extra innings at the Super Bowl.
Brady vs Mahomes: The Stats 📊📈
A 41-year-old, 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆-time Super Bowl winner versus a 23-year-old, second-year QB that has taken the NFL by storm in 2018…
👉 https://t.co/WLKgbzlD8V pic.twitter.com/5OotrnmsCN
— Sky Sports NFL (@SkySportsNFL) January 18, 2019
He’d become the fifth Black QB in NFL history to start a Super Bowl and the second one coached by offensive guru Andy Reid. Donovan McNabb and Reid lost a 24-21 heartbreaker to Bill Belichick’s Pats in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004.
Mahomes has stormed the NFL scene with a multi-faceted flair and potency that we’ve rarely seen at the quarterback position. The consensus opinion is that Mahomes, who became the third quarterback to throw for 50 TD’s in a season and also added over 5,000 yards passing, is the future of the league.
Congrats to Patrick Mahomes for being awarded PFWA's NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year! 🙌 #MVPat pic.twitter.com/JCiVNGOShw
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 16, 2019
If Mahomes wants to hold such lofty status and become the face of the NFL, he naturally has to take out the guy in the top spot first. Brady is an alien is these situations and performs as if has a deal with the football Gods.
Brady is making his 13th AFC Championship appearance, which is six more than any other QB in NFL history. He’s mastered the playoffs and the longevity of his greatness is the stuff of legend.
People have been counting Brady out every season for the past five seasons. He just continues to win. In fact, this game against Mahomes probably means as much to Brady as any game in his career.
We’ve been trying to anoint other guys to master craftsmen status for years, but Brady keeps dumping on the dreams of these hot contenders. Facing Brady is like trying to infiltrate the Shaolin Temple. You defeat every single fighter until you get to the highest ranking monk, and he gives you a lesson on the hidden chambers and destroys your style.
You’d think a guy as accomplished as Brady, wouldn’t be driven to outperform everyone, all the time. The doubt and the rumors about a demise, however, continues to fuel his quest for championship glory.
“Everybody thinks we suck and can’t win a game….We’ll see,” Brady said after the Pats whooped the Chargers 41-28 in the AFC Divisional game.
You feel that passion shaking the gridiron?
It means Mahomes is caught in this playoff hurricane known as The New England Patriots and few men have been able to conquer Belichick’s bulldogs guarding the AFC gates. Many quarterbacks have courageously battled New England with the confidence of a 10,000-man army and left riddled with wounds of defeat.
“I have total respect for Tom and everything he’s done in his career,” Mahomes told reporters.
Tom Brady = 🐐, according to Robert Kraft. (via @MikeReiss) pic.twitter.com/ssZr4CmgQS
— ESPN (@espn) January 18, 2019
Mahomes Jr. is saying all of the right things and he’s showing the composure a championship QB should have in these moments, where the wrong comment can lead to inspirational fodder for the opposition.
It didn’t work for Jalen Ramsey last season against the Patriots. It didn’t work for Antonio Brown and the Steelers either.
Mahomes knew better than to provide bulletin board material for the Pats and master motivator Belichick.
Even without trash-talking, Mahomes will still have to walk through the Lion’s den, fight the five deadly furies, kill the giant two-headed Killer Bee and leap over the dragon to save the princess in order to advance to his first Super Bowl.
Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and the Patriots is a guaranteed classic. The stakes are clearly laid out for each team, coach and quarterback.
Andy Reid has proved to be as tough as the rock of Gibralta. The legendary coach is till seeking a ring and hasn’t had much success dethroning Belichick since coming to the AFC in 2013. The Chiefs have double-digit wins in five of Reid’s six seasons.
https://twitter.com/kentbabb/status/1086270308271771649
He needs a Super Bowl win to cement his legacy. He has the team to do it and there’s no excuse to lose at home.
Mahomes is the young gun who can personally change the landscape of the AFC and officially put an end to the Patriots Dynasty.
An official passing the baton could be in play, if Mahomes can face the toughest challenge of his career, take it on the chin a few times and emerge victorious.
