National Football League

Is Patrick Mahomes as good as we thought he was?

Published Feb. 4, 2022 12:54 p.m. ET

Since he took the NFL by storm in 2018, winning league MVP in just his second season in the league, Patrick Mahomes has been considered among the best quarterbacks in the sport. Many felt he was on the road to all-time greatness.

But given Kansas City's flameout against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game last Sunday, which came on the Chiefs' home field no less, it might be prudent to take a second look at the 26-year-old's résumé.

That game, in which the Chiefs led 21-10 at halftime before falling 27-24 in overtime, brought some focus back on Mahomes, particularly after a second half and OT in which he produced only three points while throwing two interceptions.

The development might have been shocking to some, but not to Skip Bayless, who outlined why on his podcast "The Skip Bayless Show."

"Patrick has gotten way too full of himself" — Skip Bayless

After a disappointing loss in the AFC Championship, Skip Bayless explains why Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes isn't as good as we thought he was.

"He stunk it up in the second half of the AFC Championship Game, and that was no shock to me," Bayless said. "I've never been quite sold on Patrick Mahomes because I believe he has gotten away with spectacular gambles that have this year for the first time started to backfire on him."

Bayless focused on Mahomes' penchant for ad-libbing on plays, and suggested Chiefs coach Andy Reid allowed him to do so due to his own ego.

"I can throw no-looks. I can throw left-handed passes. I can throw it behind my back. I can throw it between my legs," Bayless said of Mahomes' mindset on the field. "I can get away with it because my coach blesses me. My coach spoils me. My coach loves this because his coach Andy Reid loves to polish his own ego by playing with his toy that he went up in the draft to snatch or steal."

Bayless pointed to two other games to support his case — last season's Super Bowl, which the Chiefs lost 31-9 to Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the previous season's Super Bowl, in which the Chiefs defeated the 49ers, 31-20.

Mahomes was just 26-for-49 for 270 yards against the Bucs, tossing two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Chiefs were banged up on the offensive line and Tampa Bay took advantage, but as Bayless pointed out, "when they turned up the heat on Mahomes, he melted."

Kansas City's Super Bowl win over the 49ers might be more interesting to look at, however. While the Chiefs won the game, Mahomes was less than spectacular, completing 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Both interceptions came in the second half, yet San Francisco was unable to capitalize. In fact, if 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had been able to hit a wide-open Emmanuel Sanders on a long pass late in the game, things might have turned out differently. Garoppolo was 3-for-11 for 36 yards and an interception in the fourth quarter, as the Chiefs outscored the 49ers 21-0.

Bayless pointed to those three games to make a case that perhaps Mahomes isn't as good as most observers believe.

"In those three big games — two Super Bowls and the AFC Championship Game at home — [his] QBR averages out to 49. That's below average …" Bayless said.

"In the end, are you sure about Patrick Mahomes? I'm not."

And as far as comparison's to Brady in the GOAT conversation, Bayless won't even consider the notion: "Tom Brady? Stop it. He doesn't know 1/100th of what Tom Brady knows and can perform playing quarterback."