Patrick Mahomes doesn’t need his best to be the best

On a night in which Patrick Mahomes was very clearly off for much of the game, the Kansas City Chiefs were still able to win due to his heroics.

It’s almost to the point where the situation is unfair.

On Sunday night, on a truly international stage and the single greatest exhibition in American sports, Patrick Mahomes put up perhaps one of his single worst performances in a short career of two years and a start. He still walked away with MVP honors for Super Bowl LIV for his role in the Kansas City Chiefs win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Consider this: Mahomes was the reason the Chiefs won on Sunday, their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. However, he was also the reason they were going to lose, down by 10 points with less than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Despite the lackluster performance, Mahomes still willed his team to a win. That’s what is possible when you are the best in the game.

Consider this: Mahomes finished with a line of 26 completions in 42 attempts for 268 yards. He averaged only 6.8 yards/attempt, less than his opponent Jimmy Garoppolo, and threw 2 touchdowns to help offset his 2 interceptions. He also took 4 sacks on the night, fumbled twice, and saw other passes luckily sail through the hands of defenders that kept him from suffering further embarrassment.

Somehow that was good enough to beat the best pass defense in the NFL and claim a Super Bowl triumph.

Mahomes can turn the ball over, take a sack, overthrow his man, stall a drive or all of the above for the bulk of three-plus quarters against a team dominating both sides of the ball and still come up the winner. It’s the downfield vision to hit a racing Tyreek Hill or a tight window for Travis Kelce or a leaping Sammy Watkins. It’s the surprising wheels paired with a rare elusivity that allows him to not only wiggle free of the sack but then add another 15 yards rushing on the end of it.

In boxing, he’s the swarmer and the slugger. He can outclass you quickly, putting instant pressure on with hit after hit, but he’s also proven in this postseason to be able to go the distance. Now he can also be the one knocked out early and often only to come back with the punch that defines the match, like the ones he threw with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

For Mahomes, his official totals in the box score were miserable. He threw 5 interceptions all season long and then 2 more in the biggest game of his life. He led the NFL with 9.6 yards/attempt in 2018 and had another impressive average of 8.9 yards/attempt this season. In the Super Bowl, it was a scant 6.8—the fourth lowest total of his career.

The Niners had to be thrilled with the way Mahomes played for most of the game. It was abnormal. It was lackluster. That is, until it wasn’t.

For Mahomes, he can only get better from here. It’s possible for him to avoid the turnovers in a game like that. It’s possible for the first drive to not stall and for the team to not fall into a 10-point or more deficit. It’s possible for the jitters to subside before the game, for Mahomes to come in calm and collected like the savvy veteran he’ll soon be.

Until then, the NFL should still be very, very afraid because none of this is fair. The Chiefs were on the ropes, yet again, and still came back and won, like a predictable feel-good movie in which, of course, they are going to rise up and win.

For now it still feels novel, because it’s the city’s first championship in 50 years. The confetti is exciting. The feelings are overwhelming. The celebration is ongoing. But soon enough, the idea of Mahomes coming back will make you roll your eyes. “Of course, he will. That’s what the Chiefs always do.”

Because even on one of his worst nights as a professional quarterback, Patrick Mahomes was still good enough to win something called the Super Bowl. Sorry, NFL, he’s just that good.