Uh-oh, Kansas City Chiefs fans aren’t going to like this one. On the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden, the two defensive backs debated where Patrick Mahomes ranks among the all-time greats. While many already want to crown the three-time Super Bowl champion the greatest of all time, the pair don’t think he’s there quite yet.
In fact, Peterson believes Mahomes is just cracking the top-5.
“I’d put him at five,” said Peterson of Mahomes. But before anyone gets too upset, Peterson was quick to explain himself.
“Pat is great. He’s going to go down probably as one of the greatest quarterbacks when it’s all said and done and he has done things a lot of people, well, nobody has done at the age of 28, but it’s hard for me to put somebody as the greatest of all time when their body of work is not even done yet.”
I hate to say it, but I agree with Pat Pete here. Not on overall rankings, I have a hard time rationalizing Peyton Manning as being better when he won just two Super Bowls, one of which, he was essentially on life-support. But instead on waiting before we call him the greatest to ever do it.
McFadden is closer to my personal opinion in ranking Mahomes, placing him at second all-time behind Tom Brady.
“The Peyton Manning’s, Joe Montana’s whoever the other guy is – Pat Mahomes is better than those guys,” said McFadden. “Last two Super Bowls Pat Mahomes won with the team that wasn’t the best on the field.”
Peterson and McFadden found common ground here, both agreeing that Mahomes elevated the level of the previous two Super Bowl teams he has been on. They also agreed that both the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 and the 49ers this season had better teams than the Chiefs, but the team was still able to pull out championships due to Mahomes’ play. The Chiefs have the potential to pull off a three-peat for the first time in NFL history with a Super Bowl win in 2024
For me, this is one part of the equation when determining if a player is elite. The second is if they are good in crunch time. Spoiler alert: Mahomes is historically good in that category too.
Since 2001 there have been 125 drives in the playoffs where a game came down to a fourth-quarter drive with under a minute left where the offensive team was trailing by seven points or fewer. Of those 125, 40% had a success rate. Brady is credited for five of those converting 46%. Drew Brees has three at 50%. Mahomes is a perfect seven-for-seven.
Needless to say when the conversation shifted into who the best current quarterback was in the NFL, both McFadden and Peterson agreed it was Mahomes by a landslide.
At the rate he is going, don’t be surprised if the All Things Covered podcast has this conversation again next year with Mahomes closer to the top of each player’s list.
