Super Bowl LV: Tom Brady can slam door shut on Patrick Mahomes’ chances of becoming ‘The GOAT’

Heavy lies the head that wears the crown. Within the past decade, Tom Brady has been able to oust his boyhood idol Joe Montana as the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. He has more Super Bowls than any other player, more wins than any signal-caller that has come before him, and “The GOAT” is a nickname that has become synonymous with TB12. When you think of greatness in the NFL, Brady’s name is the first to come up. However, the peak of the mountain top comes with a target, and folks trying to snatch that spot in history away just as Brady did to Montana. 

There have been valiant efforts by other legends such as Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, but none more threatening to Brady’s GOAT status than what Patrick Mahomes has been able to produce to this point in his career. In just his third season as the full-time starter, the Chiefs quarterback has a league MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and Lombardi Trophy on his résumé and could add more hardware with a win on Sunday. That’s not even mentioning a season with over 5,000 yards passing and 50 touchdowns, but you understand the point. Mahomes is the brightest young star that the NFL has seen in quite some time and already looks to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory in a very similar fashion to Brady when he ripped off two Super Bowl titles in his first three years as the starter in New England.  

Super Bowl LV is almost here, and you can watch it for free on the CBS Sports App.

It’s admittedly silly to have a greatest-of-all-time debate between one quarterback who has been in the league four years compared to one who has been playing essentially since the other was in middle school, but the trajectory that Mahomes is on warrants the question. Not only that but given the situation Mahomes and Brady find themselves in — squaring off on the league’s biggest stage on Sunday — we may look back at Super Bowl LV as a defining moment as to whom sits on the NFL throne when both careers are finished. 

For Brady, this is an opportunity that Montana (vs. Brady) and Michael Jordan (vs. LeBron James) dream they could have against the player coming for their crown. No hypothetical matchups, comparing numbers, or parsing competition between eras: A good old-fashioned head to head with the winner adding another title to their legacy. 

A win on Sunday gives Brady the ability to all but slam the door shut on Mahomes’ chances of overtaking him as the NFL’s greatest ever. Coming into this Super Bowl, Mahomes is 6-1 in the postseason. That lone loss came courtesy of Brady during the AFC Championship Game of the 2018 season while the now 43-year-old was a member of the Patriots. Another win brings the elder statesman — who is no longer even in his prime — to 2-0 when the games meant the most against Mahomes and also further widens the championship gap between the two. 

Another Super Bowl title would give Brady seven for his career while Mahomes would still be sitting with one. Creating a six-Super Bowl gap between one another with one of those championships being a straight head-to-head victory would give Brady the ultimate feather in his cap in this competition for immortality vs. Mahomes. The Cheifs quarterback would not only then need to match Brady, but likely exceed that ridiculous total, which would be completely unprecedented. If Brady falls, a four Super Bowl gap with Mahomes owning the head to head makes things a little more dicey for No. 12 to keep his status for the foreseeable future. After all, Mahomes is just 25 and seems to have a decade-plus left in his career to gain the necessary ground. 

That’s why this game could prove to be critical for Brady when we come back to this argument over the next decade. If Mahomes has the career most of us expect, he’ll be in the conversation against Brady. However, a straight-up win in the Super Bowl by the current six-time champ likely gives him all the ammunition he needs to secure being “The GOAT” for as far out as we can see.

And you thought the stakes couldn’t get any higher.