What Mahomes' Super Bowl LV performance taught us

Competitive toughness makes the Chiefs' quarterback a near impossible out

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The lasting image of Super Bowl LV was an incomplete pass in the fourth quarter of a 22 point game. A horizontal Mahomes levitating off the ground, somehow about to throw a football on fourth down.

That well delivered pass he was about to throw in that image bounced off the face mask of running back Darrel Williams on the goal line. The Chiefs series ended deep in Buccaneers territory — their season ending in similarly disappointing fashion.

That pass to Williams was the third and final remarkable play of a three play series that saw the Bucs get home easily with four rushers and force Mahomes to create above any expectation. He was masterful navigating pressure — weaving through rushers and utilizing every blade of grass on the field to buy enough time to find someone down the field.

Kent Swanson @kent_swanson

Patrick Mahomes made these three plays back-to-back-to-back. On turf toe. Two drops. Couldn't do anything else.

He did all of this on turf toe.

It’s tough to watch the replays of Super Bowl LV. The offense was a disjointed mess that got worse as the game went on. By the time that three play sequence occurred, the pieced together offensive line was exposed and providing little resistance. The play calling didn’t tie to the ability up front, receivers had drops, and Mahomes missed both completions and pressures.

Despite some issues, Mahomes made some special plays that led to some key drops in the first half — one would have scored a touchdown.

Watch a full breakdown of two impressive Mahomes plays from the first half

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Mahomes wasn’t perfect, obviously. evidenced by his own mess he had to clean up out of structure in the video above. Doing what he did injured — regardless if some of it was self inflicted — was a testament to the kind of football character he possesses.

That lasting image of Mahomes is such a perfect representation of the reality that night — he was playing Superman. It took metric tons of kryptonite in various forms to stop the best player in the world.

Mahomes’ injuries and an injury ravaged offensive line aren’t a formula to beat him — but that night they played a major contributing factor. The only game in which a Mahomes-led team lost by more than one score needed a lot to go wrong. Unfortunately it went wrong at the worst time.

The good news for Chiefs fans is that kind of series of unfortunate events is exactly what it will take to slow him down for the foreseeable future. If Mahomes is healthy — he’s inevitable. That kind of lopsided result isn’t going to happen without significant factors at play.

The competitive toughness we’ve seen from the best player in the world isn’t going away. He battles through major injuries and still finds ways to do the remarkable. He showed everyone what he’s capable of in a losing effort — and it should be terrifying for the rest of the NFL.

A healthy Mahomes is coming back with a deep, improved offensive line group ready to make sure what happened in February doesn’t happen again.