The more Patrick Mahomes II and the Kansas City Chiefs make it to Super Bowls, the better chance they have of winning them — in theory.
That’s the thought process from Mahomes, who plans on using his prior Super Bowl experience as a major “advantage” over Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think the biggest way I’ve changed is just kind of knowing what to expect of the week,” the Chiefs QB stated on February 5. “I’ve obviously grown as a quarterback and as a leader and as a person but being able to have a gameplan for what the Super Bowl week entails — and prepare myself to not play the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl game — is something that I’m hoping that I can use to my advantage.”
Later, Mahomes did acknowledge that “you’re always going to have nerves going into the Super Bowl” before adding that winning is “about embracing those nerves and understanding that they’re going to be there — [and] then, going out there and being who you are.”
The superstar called his first NFL title game “the most nervous I’ve ever been in the Super Bowl,” concluding: “I think now it’s just about going out there and playing the game.”
Playoff Experience Could Be Difference Maker for Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs in 2024 Super Bowl
A couple of months ago, the KC offense wasn’t playing like a unit on the cusp of another Super Bowl run. Having said that, here they are, and playoff experience has been a factor.
Mahomes mentioned the advantage of knowing how to navigate Super Bowl week — having already done it three times — but his overall postseason experience is even more impressive.
During an article on February 6, CBS Sports analyst Douglas Clawson noted that Mahomes has “made 17 playoff starts, or the equivalent of a full season worth of games” throughout his career. “His numbers in the playoffs: 14 wins, 39 touchdown passes and 4,802 passing yards,” the writer detailed.
According to Clawson, famous quarterbacks like “Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Steve Young, Brett Favre, John Elway, Jim Kelly, Troy Aikman, Warren Moon and Johnny Unitas” have never hit each of those statistics during any 17-start span of their respective careers.
Later Clawson relayed another incredible postseason statistic from Mahomes.
“There’s 35 quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 10 playoff starts,” he informed. “Mahomes is the only one to improve his numbers from the regular season to the playoffs in each of these five categories: win percentage, completion percentage, touchdown percentage, interception percentage and rush yards per game.”
Building off that, Clawson also mentioned that out of “18 potential game-tying or go-ahead [Chiefs] drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs with Mahomes,” the two-time MVP has “successfully tied or gone ahead on TWELVE of those drives.” That 67% conversion rate tops Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers (53% each) as the “best by any QB since the turn of the century.”
So, not only is Mahomes experienced, but he’s also very, very clutch.
49ers QB Brock Purdy Is Ultimate Wild Card of 2024 Super Bowl vs. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
While this is all well and good for Mahomes, Purdy’s advantage is the unknown.
The Niners QB looks to close out his second season in the NFL with a Super Bowl victory. His first campaign as the starter ended in a conference championship loss.
Sound familiar? That trajectory is reminiscent of Mahomes in 2018 and 2019 — his initial two years as the starter in Kansas City.
Before Mahomes beat San Francisco in the 2019-20 Super Bowl, no one really knew how legendary he’d become. Is Purdy — a former “Mr. Irrelevant” of the NFL draft turned superstar — on a similar path?
This is Purdy’s first championship final, so it’s hard to predict if he’ll rise to the occasion or fold under pressure. For now, his story is still unwritten.
And that unknown could be seen as an advantage in itself.
