National Football League

Is Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes already among best players in NFL history?

Updated Oct. 25, 2022 6:30 p.m. ET

The Kansas City Chiefs offense features some new faces this season, but Patrick Mahomes is one of the constants keeping the team in Super Bowl contention.

Coming off a Week 6 loss at home to the Buffalo Bills, Mahomes and the Chiefs won with conviction on the road against the San Francisco 49ers, who had just added star running back Christian McCaffrey in a trade from the Carolina Panthers.

After trailing 10-0 in the first quarter, the Chiefs outscored the 49ers 44-13 the rest of the way. Mahomes finished with 423 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, one interception and a 132.4 quarterback rating, completing 25 of 34 passes (73.5%). The win moved Kansas City to 5-2 and first place in the AFC West.

On Monday's edition of "First Things First," cohosts Nick Wright and Chris Broussard gave historical praise to Mahomes. In fact, Wright categorized Mahomes as the greatest player in NFL history, citing the statistics that he leads quarterbacks in since the beginning of the Super Bowl era.

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs dismantle 49ers in Week 7

Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes discuss the Chiefs' 44-23 win over the 49ers in Week 7.

"When I said he's [Mahomes] the greatest player we've ever seen through 70 games, it's not an opinion," Wright said. "Through 70 games, [he has] the most wins (55), the most yards (302.1 per game) and the most touchdowns (171). Seems good. And what did we say after the Raiders game? You don't want to be losing to Mahomes, but you know what you really don't want to be? Beating Mahomes, because once again a double-digit comeback, and we can show you those numbers, he wins 59% of those games.

"He's now 13-9, Brady's the next-best at 38%. He's 3-0 now this year when trailing by double-digits. Meanwhile, the rest of the league is at 19%."

Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid are adjusting to life without star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who they traded to the Miami Dolphins in the offseason. They brought in veteran wideouts Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster while drafting Skyy Moore with the No. 54 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. They also have ol' reliable, tight end Travis Kelce.

Although he didn't go as far as saying that Mahomes is the greatest or most talented player in NFL history, Broussard contended that Mahomes is the greatest quarterback in league history.

"I don't like to necessarily categorize quarterbacks just as football players," Broussard said. "People say Brady's the best football player, I reject that, but best quarterback. I told you this last week, watching Mahomes against Buffalo I said, 'he's the best quarterback we've ever seen.' Now he's going to have to keep winning. He will not get rated as that if he doesn't win more championships, but he is the best we've ever seen, period."

'We've got playmakers everywhere' - Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes stops to talk to Tom Rinaldi about all the weapons the Chiefs have on offense and why they are so dangerous.

Mahomes has totaled 2,159 passing yards, 20 passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a 109.5 quarterback rating, completing 66.9% of his passes this season. He leads the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns and quarterback rating. Mahomes has also rushed for 113 yards.

In his four full seasons under center for the Chiefs (2018-21), Mahomes has averaged 4,676.8 passing yards, 37.8 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 147.8 quarterback rating, completing 66.1% of his passes. Kansas City won Super Bowl LIV with Mahomes under center, a game which saw them come back from down two scores to beat the 49ers.

Mahomes, 27, signed a 10-year, $450 million extension in 2020, which keeps him under contract with the Chiefs through 2031.