This weekend at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, history will be made in the National Football League (NFL) when the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles battle it out for outright supremacy in American football.
The Super Bowl LVII will be the first to feature two black quarterbacks (QB) starting for their respective teams; prior to this year, only seven black quarterbacks had started in a Super Bowl.
History. 🙌@JalenHurts | @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/fYQUVQ0hxE
— NFL (@NFL) January 30, 2023
The much-anticipated matchup will see Jalen Hurts lead the Eagles, while Patrick Mahomes will hope to win his second championship as he leads the two-time winners, the Chiefs.
The Chiefs defeated Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC Championship game, while the Eagles saw off the San Francisco 49ers 31-7 in the NFC Championship game.
It was @PatrickMahomes‘ night. 🏆 #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/ynSjtWqh6X
— NFL (@NFL) January 30, 2023
Mahomes will be playing in his third Super Bowl after his victory in Super Bowl LIV in February 2020, when he led the Chiefs to a 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers. He threw for 286 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, eventually winning the game’s most valuable player (MVP).
In rare company.@pizzahut | @PatrickMahomes
📺: #SBLVII — Sunday, Feb. 12 at 6:30pm ET on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/Lkzl8i13a3— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2023
A year later, the 27-year-old and the Chiefs were defeated 31-9 by the Tom Brady-inspired Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, his second appearance at the prestigious event.
Mahomes, the 10th-pick in the 2017 draft, played 17 games this regular season and will be leading the Chiefs to their fifth-ever Super Bowl, against the team [Eagles] they shared the best regular-season record with: 14 wins and three defeats.
With the 57th Superbowl within reach, Afrosport takes a deep look into the impressive stats that led Mahomes, aka “The Grim Reaper” to the Superbowl, where he would be making history.
Passing Yards: Compared to all other quarterbacks in the regular season, Mahomes finished with the most passing yards (5250), 511 more than the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert in second and 556 more than the newly-retired Tom Brady, who is regarded as arguably the best QB to ever play in the NFL.
Passing Attempts: Only Brady (733) and Herbert (699) attempted more passes than Mahomes (648) during the just-concluded regular season.
Yards/Attempt: Of the 30 quarterbacks that had more than 2000 passing yards, only Tua Tagovailoa (8.9) averaged more than Mahomes (8.1).
Adjusted yards/attempt: Only Tagovailoa (9.20) averaged more than Mahomes (8.5)
Net yards/attempt: Only Tagovailoa (8.04) averaged more than Mahomes (7.51)
Passes Completed: Just like the attempts, only Brady (490) and Herbert (477) completed more passes than Mahomes (435).
Pass Completion %: Mahomes (67.1%) ranked fourth for percentage of passes completed amongst QBs that attempted a minimum of 500 passes.
Passing Touchdowns: No quarterback in the NFL this season threw for more touchdowns than Mahomes (41). He had six more than his closest rival, Josh Allen.
Sacks: Of the 29 quarterbacks that started at least ten games, Mahomes (26) was the eighth-least sacked player.
Comebacks led by quarterback: Only Kirk Cousins (8) and Matt Ryan (5) led more fourth-quarter comebacks than Mahomes.
QB game-winning drive: Only Cousins (8), Brady, Herbert, and Daniel Jones, all on five, had more than Mahomes (4).
QB Rating: Only Tagovailoa (105.5), who played 13 games, got a higher rating than Mahomes (105.2), who played 17 games, among quarterbacks that played a minimum of ten games.
ESPN QB rating: The ESPN’s total quarterback rating has been calculated since 2006, and for the 2022 season, no player got a higher rating than Mahomes (77.6)
As impressive as these stats are, Mahomes could make more history on Sunday as he continues his search for American football immortality.
He could become the first black quarterback to win two Super Bowl titles, adding to the one he won in 2020, when he joined Douglas Williams (1988) and Russell Wilson (2014) in winning a Super Bowl.
