Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl LVIII film review; Every version needed
Looking at how Mahomes adapted his game, as he had to all year, to fit whatever the Chiefs needed to win it all.
You know the drill. Every week (well, most weeks) I’ll be charting every dropback by Patrick Mahomes this year, just like I’ve done for… well, his whole career. As I laid out in the Week 1 film review (which is unlocked so you can see the methodology in more detail), statistical analysis of quarterbacks, especially in small sample sizes, doesn’t really tell us the whole story or even most of it. So I chart things that the QB can control, such as accuracy, pocket presence, franchise throws, going through reads, and more.
Patrick Mahomes has won playoff games (and Super Bowls) in pretty much ever manner imaginable. He’s dominated shootouts by throwing the ball all over the yard. He’s played methodical, smart ball (on one leg) dinking and dunking his way down the field. He’s used his legs nearly as much as his arm. He’s been a playmaker and a game manager, depending on what the situation called for.
That’s a lot of different ways to win. But I suppose that’s what happens when you become one of the winningest quarterbacks in history before your 30th (or 29th) birthday. Whatever it takes to win, that’s what Mahomes does.
One would think, after all of these wins (and all these games charted), Mahomes would run out of surprises for me. But in Super Bowl LVIII he showed off his ability to morph into yet another variation of winning quarterback play; A guy who refused to make “the” mistake. Even if it meant suppressing every ounce of his gunslinging tendencies that have brought him so much success.
Let’s talk about Mahomes’ film vs a very good 49ers defense (that was playing with its hair on fire throughout much of the game) in yet another triumph for a player who just cannot seem to stop stacking them up, and how he’s now shown the ability to be any sort of winning quarterback the situation requires him to be… even on a snap by snap basis.
If you want to take a look at past film reviews from 2023, they are all linked below. It’s been quite a journey this year, and I cannot believe I get to do this as a job.
-Week 1 (UNLOCKED, lays out the terms and methodology)
-Week 3 (no article, but the numbers are there in a week he was virtually flawless)