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The decision made by the San Francisco 49ers to give Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs the ball second, thus providing them with the opportunity to win, was not only foolish but also historically foolish.
An article published on Substack by Neil Paine sheds light on just how unintelligent the 49ers’ choice was to hand the ball to Mahomes with the chance to secure victory. Paine emphasizes that the 28-year-old quarterback has been flawlessly successful in these situations.
“Since 2001, there have been 125 drives in the NFL postseason where it was at least the fourth quarter, there was under a minute left to play, and the team on offense trailed by seven points or fewer at the start. These are your typical critical moments for a football team, the drives that determine the outcome of the game,” Paine explains.
“Out of those 125 drives, only 40 percent of them resulted in the team on offense achieving the necessary points. Some quarterbacks have shown proficiency in these situations, such as Tom Brady, who succeeded in 5 out of 11 attempts (46%), or Drew Brees, who succeeded in 3 out of 6 attempts (50%). However, Patrick Mahomes stands alone, having succeeded in all 7 attempts, achieving perfection in these dire moments.”
Essentially, among all the quarterbacks who have played in the National Football League in the past 25 years, Mahomes was unequivocally the least suitable choice for the 49ers to entrust with the ball in this high-stakes, make-or-break situation.
Through his drive that tied the game in regulation and his subsequent drive that secured the victory in overtime, Mahomes sealed his third Super Bowl title of his career. His journey to this achievement truly began when he assumed the role of starting quarterback for the team in 2018.
Mahomes’ triumph in Super Bowl 58 also earned him his third Super Bowl MVP award, adding to his two regular season MVP accolades. He is also the first quarterback since Tom Brady with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004 to lead his team to consecutive Super Bowl victories.
According to the Source brobible.com