History backs Patrick Mahomes to win Super Bowl LVI
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to make the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season. They are 1-1 in those recent Super Bowls, and the signal-caller himself is 8-2 in his NFL postseason career.
He is now set to compete with a new up-and-coming star quarterback in Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. This comes one week after taking down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in dramatic fashion.
It is clear that it takes a truly special quarterback to defeat the already legendary Mahomes. In fact, only one has ever beaten him in the postseason. That is the newly retired Tom Brady.
Brady first took down Mahomes as a member of the New England Patriots in the 2018 AFC Championship Game. He then did so with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in last year's Super Bowl. Brady's retirement means Mahomes will officially never have taken him down in the playoffs. That is fine, because plenty of other quarterbacks have suffered a similar fate.
One interesting note is that the Kansas City star will be taking on another streak when the Bengals come to town.
Patrick Mahomes is hoping history remains on his side
There is a fun fact about Burrow and rookie sensation Ja'Marr Chase that will have Bengals fans excited. Neither has lost a postseason game as a duo, either at LSU or in the NFL.
On Sunday, either Mahomes will suffer his first postseason loss against a quarterback who isn't Brady, or Burrow and Chase will taste a playoff defeat for the first time together.
The Chiefs quarterback has already taken down some big names throughout his postseason career. This year alone saw him eliminate both Allen and the retiring Ben Roethlisberger. His list also includes Jimmy Garoppolo, Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson and Ryan Tannehill. Adding Burrow would continue the trend and prove that the AFC still runs through Kansas City.
But it would be unfair to count Burrow out before Sunday. It's highly possible he is the next version of the Chiefs superstar, or a star in his own rights entirely.
The Bengals and the Chiefs met up in Week 17 in what ended up being a must-see shootout between the two quarterbacks. Burrow won the showdown as he threw for 446 yards and four touchdowns in the 34-31 victory. That came a week after he threw for 525 yards against the Baltimore Ravens.
History points toward Mahomes being in great shape because he isn't going up against Brady. Yet history also shows Burrow just doesn't lose in the postseason. Both sample sizes are small and the trajectory of both of their careers will change after Sunday's meeting.