The clutch gene: Why Patrick Mahomes is NFL’s greatest closer since Tom Brady

Eric Williams

NFL Reporter

San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa said it best: What makes Patrick Mahomes the top quarterback in the NFL is his ability to put teams away, while making difficult plays look easy.

“He’s able to get the ball far distances really fast, so you don’t need that much separation,” Bosa told reporters, when asked what makes Mahomes the best. “And then the way he creates plays. He’s able to pump fake people and run for first downs when you really need them.

“His running ability is kind of underrated. He’s stout, so he’s tough to bring down. And he makes good decisions.”

Bosa will be one of the main players on defense responsible for slowing down Mahomes as San Francisco hosts the Kansas City Chiefs in a nationally televised contest on FOX this Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET), with Tom Brady set to provide the analysis for the game — the first time he’ll call a game that features Mahomes.

It will be a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl, in which Mahomes’ clutch gene was on full display, as he led Kansas City to an overtime win. But it will be more than that, particularly with Brady in attendance in the broadcast booth. In a way, it will be a passing of the torch, as Mahomes has clearly assumed Brady’s title as the NFL’s best closer.

Brady might be the GOAT, but when it comes to the clutch gene, Mahomes is right there with him. Both QBs are known for their ability to close out games in the fourth quarter, both in the regular season and the postseason. Just look at the data, courtesy of FOX Sports research.

Fourth-quarter comebacks: Mahomes not only has the best record in NFL history (13-10) when entering the fourth quarter trailing, he’s the only quarterback with a winning record in that situation (minimum 10 games).

However, Brady’s total of 31 regular season wins entering the fourth quarter when trailing is the most in NFL history. Even more impressive, Brady has 19 regular-season wins when trailing with two minutes left, the second-most of any QB since 2000. He has three two-minute comebacks in the playoffs, the most since 2000.

Late touchdowns: Mahomes has eight touchdown drives in the playoffs when trailing at any point. That’s tied for seventh since 2000 and the third-most among active QBs (Russell Wilson has 13, Aaron Rodgers has 11). He also has six TD passes in the playoffs when trailing at any point in the fourth quarter, third-most among active QBs (Rodgers has eight, Wilson has seven).

Game winning drives: Brady’s 14 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter in the playoffs are the most of any quarterback in NFL history. Mahomes is tied with John Elway for the second-most, with six).

So it’s clear that both men carry the clutch gene, and time will tell which signal-caller ends up having more of it. But is there any way Mahomes is already surpassing Brady?

“The only thing I would say could possibly make him (Mahomes) better than Tom Brady in the end is that he can extend plays to a whole other degree,” said Rob Gronkowski on his “Dudes On Dudes” podcast with former New England Patriots teammate Julian Edelman. “But he’s never going to be better than Tom. And even if he is, I’ll never say that because I love Tom.

“But the way he can extend plays, that’s what makes the Kansas City Chiefs so good. He’s about to be sacked, and then he just rolls out, spins off a defender and throws it to Travis Kelce, or Tyreek Hill, when he had him, or a no-name seventh rounder.”

Much like Brady owned the NFL, Mahomes and the Chiefs have similarly dominated San Francisco. Mahomes is 4-0 against the 49ers in his career, including two Super Bowl wins. He has completed 68% of his passes for an average of 364.5 yards per game, with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions for a 104.5 passer rating in those games.

“Fifteen is a heck of a player,” San Francisco receiver Deebo Samuel acknowledged this week on his podcast. “At any moment he’ll do anything possible. I don’t like referring back to Super Bowls, but my rookie year we were up, and Pat Mahomes just goes and does things that Pat Mahomes does.

“And the two-minute drill this past Super Bowl, it’s just Pat Mahomes doing Pat Mahomes things. You’ve got to give him his flowers.”

While Mahomes has been a beast with the game on the line, this season statistically has been his worst through five games in any season in his career. Only Will Levis (seven) has more interceptions than Mahomes (six), and his 88.9 passer rating is the lowest at any point of his seven-year NFL career.

But don’t tell that to San Francisco defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen.

“However many times that you’ve gone against Mahomes, it’s still going to be hard,” Sorenson said. “It helps a little bit because you understand the preparation for him. But he’s so difficult because he doesn’t always do the same thing.

“The arm angle is never the same. He doesn’t always set his feet, but sometimes he does. He’s really good at reading the defense and throwing it where he needs to. So, it helps you understand who he is, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re just going to automatically have success because he’s so good.”

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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