Patrick Mahomes will be leading the Chiefs against an Eagles defense that was No. 1 against the pass this season. History says that’s bad news for Philly.
Sorry, Eagles fans. If the adage that history repeats itself is going to hold true in Glendale for Super Bowl LVII, then Patrick Mahomes is going to be carrying the Lombardi Trophy above his head on Sunday night.
The Philadelphia faithful who might be reading this are surely saying that Mahomes will have to face a defense that could set an NFL record for sacks in a full season including the playoffs. And that this Eagles defense also ranked No. 1 against the pass during the regular season. All of that is indeed true. That’s also the problem for Philly based on the playoff history of the quarterback.
As it turns out, Patrick Mahomes has been up against two defenses that were No. 1 against the pass in the regular season in playoff matchups. Neither of those games went well for the opposing team.
Patrick Mahomes stats: Chiefs QB has dominated No. 1 pass defenses in playoffs
The most recent example came in last year’s Divisional Round clash against the Bills, the classic 13-second comeback game for Kansas City. Obviously, that was a Chiefs win against Buffalo’s top-ranked pass defense, but it came on the back of Mahomes throwing for 378 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions to earn a 123.1 passer rating.
Meanwhile, the previous matchup came after the 2019 season against the San Francisco 49ers. Mahomes was a bit worse in that game than he was a year ago against Buffalo, but he still threw for 286 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions along with a passer rating of 78.1. Most importantly, though, that was also the Chiefs quarterback’s first Super Bowl victory.
So in two playoff games against the top-ranked pass defense from the regular season, Patrick Mahomes has thrown for a combined 664 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Now, he’ll get his third postseason clash of this kind. And unless the Eagles can rewrite the script, Sunday’s game playing out the same will mean the Chiefs’ third Super Bowl title in franchise history.