Patrick Mahomes’ winning ways have now infused his Chiefs teammates

Patrick Mahomes’ winning ways have now infused his Chiefs teammates

On Monday, CBS Sports analyst Douglas Clawson put forth a list of the NFL’s 10 most clutch quarterbacks. He described his primary criteria:

· Quarterback conversion rate on game-tying or go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter and overtime

· Expected points added (EPA) per play in these situations (looks at value added on all plays between rushes, passes, sacks and fumbles)

It should not be a surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes topped this list.

1. Patrick Mahomes

The criteria I laid out above says C.J. Stroud is the most clutch quarterback in the NFL right now, but I’m making an exception and giving Patrick Mahomes the crown for two reasons.

1) Sample size alert. Stroud has only played one season and has had eight game-tying or go-ahead drive opportunities.

2) Playoff numbers. This is why Mahomes is the answer to the question I posed at the top. Who do you want with the ball in his hands with the game on the line? It’s Mahomes and it’s not even close. He is an absurd 15 of 21 converting potential game-tying or go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter and overtime of his playoff career. That’s the highest conversion rate (71 percent) of any QB since at least 2000 (min. 10 drives), well above Tom Brady who is second (53 percent). If we had records of this stat prior to that, I’m sure it would say it’s the highest rate in NFL history, too.

After Mahomes and company went 3-for-3 on those drives to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, I laid out the stats for why he is the best “closer” in sports since Michael Jordan. Jordan is the gold standard for clutch play in the NBA, making 9 of 18 on potential game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of his playoff career.

Mahomes is the gold standard in the NFL and everything about his playoff resume screams clutch.

Takeaway

I appreciate that Clawson dug into some data to come to this conclusion — but there should be no doubt about this. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the last five seasons. In all three, Mahomes has driven his team down the field to win in either the fourth quarter or overtime.

In 2019, Mahomes led his team back to win every one of its postseason games after trailing by at least 10 points. In the final seconds of 2022’s AFC Championship, Mahomes’ gutsy third-down scramble allowed Kansas City to win with a 45-yard Harrison Butker field goal. (Although Joseph Ossai’s penalty on that play put Butker 15 yards closer, he probably would have made it from 60 anyway).

But in the 2023 season, we started to see something different. After falling to 9-6 with a humiliating home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the underachieving Chiefs became overachievers, winning six straight games to become the first team to win back-to-back championships in almost two decades.

During that stretch, there were clutch performances from everyone. After the Cincinnati Bengals took a 17-7 lead the following week, Butker made six straight field goals (as Steve Spagnuolo’s defense shut down the Bengals) for a 25-17 win. In the first quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18, safety Mike Edwards’ 97-yard fumble return made the difference in a 13-12 win. Spagnuolo’s unit stepped up again in playoff wins against the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens, while running back Isiah Pacheco’s fourth-quarter performance sealed Kansas City’s Divisional win over the Buffalo Bills.

So yes... Mahomes remains the league’s most clutch quarterback. But in 2023, it rubbed off on his teammates. Things don’t get more clutch than that.