Monday, 4 a.m.
Twelve days after the greatest quarterback of them all retired, we have a new candidate for his throne.
Oh, Patrick Mahomes didn't turn into Tom Brady Sunday night. He's not even a third of the way to matching Brady's titles. He's only halfway to Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw. Heck, he has just tied Eli Manning.
What Mahomes did Sunday night was pull ahead of the pack of other contenders out there with a 38-35 comeback win over the Eagles.
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Mahomes, the game MVP, led his Chiefs to points on their last four possessions. He dominated in the big moments, leading his team from a 10-point deficit to its second title in four years.
Oh, these days, that's enough to throw the "dynasty" word around, but that's just silly. Two isn't a dynasty. But two is pretty darned good when you're faced with the situation Mahomes was in halfway through Sunday night's game.
-- His Chiefs were down 10 points, and the margin felt bigger.
-- He was hurt, reinsuring his ankle late in the first half.
-- His counterpart, Jalen Hurts, was playing sensational football.
And, because of Mahomes, the Chiefs were able to overcome it all.
Mahomes threw three touchdown passes. He had a 26-yard run, bad ankle and all, to set up the winning field goal.
Most of all -- and this is what great quarterbacks do -- he allowed his team to believe a comeback was possible. With Mahomes in the huddle, doesn't a comeback always seem possible?
He's a terrific player, Mahomes, and no one should take it as disrespect that his career doesn't measure up to Brady's. Not yet.
But he now has won more Super Bowls than Aaron Rodgers, more than Brett Favre, more than Drew Brees, more than Ken Stabler, more than Steve Young. In an era of free agency, two is a lot of Super Bowls.
Hey, if you measure a quarterback by yardage, it wasn't a great game for Mahomes. But who cares about yardage? The world cares about efficiency (he hit 77.8 percent of his passes) and comebacks (it was his third post-season comeback) and victories (he's now 11-3 in the playoffs).
Who knows the future? We have seen Super Bowl hangovers before. Nothing is guaranteed.
But, for now, Mahomes has our interest. More than Jalen Hurts, more than Joe Burrow, more than Josh Allen. More than Rodgers. And yes, more than Brady.
As of now, it's a Patrick Mahomes world.
The rest of us have to pay rent.