Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is a prolific passer. He was also voted the best player in the league by his peers, landing the No. 1 spot in the NFL’s annual Top 100 Players list. But even he can’t escape the dreaded “game manager” monicker.
“What is clear from my vantage … is that Mahomes is the greatest game manager in the game,” Fox Sports’ Henry McKenna wrote on February 8. “The idea that Mahomes is a game manager — he almost titled himself as one — destroys everything we know about him. … His career has been all about exceptionalism, particularly in attempting and completing throws that no one else in the history of the NFL could make.”
Coming off a very un-Mahomes-like season, the sentiments are understandable.
Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes the ‘Greatest Game Manager’
Patrick Mahomes’ Uncharacteristic 2023 Season in Review
Mahomes posted his lowest touchdown rate, fewest air yards per attempt, and highest interception rate of his career as a full-time starter. He also had to take the road path to the Super Bowl for the first time in his career. But McKenna points to his NFL-leading 210 passes to tight ends and running backs – checkdowns – as support for his argument.
He also cited Mahomes’ comments from the Divisional Round win over the Baltimore Ravens.
“Whenever they’re rolling like that, I have to kind of manage my game,” Mahomes told reporters on January 28. “That’s stuff that I’ve learned throughout the season is, even if we’re not having the success that I want to have, [if] the defense is rolling getting stops, let’s just take the safe choice: get the ball out of my hand, don’t turn the ball over, and let’s go win a football game.”
Buckle up.
We've got 7 minutes and 45 seconds of @PatrickMahomes on the mic in Baltimore 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/sJLUI7B4JX
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 1, 2024
That is the antithesis of the Mahomes – a two-time champion and six-time Pro Bowler among a litany of other accolades – that we have come to know as a player.
None of this is to slander or slight Mahomes, though.
“Mahomes is just different. He manipulates football games like he sees The Matrix’s code,” McKenna wrote of Mahomes’ fourth-quarter prowess. “It’s how Mahomes took over the Super Bowl last year. … It’s how he has not missed an AFC Championship Game since taking over as starter.”
Cam Newton Defends ‘Game Manager’ Comments
This comes in light of claims by former NFL quarterback Cam Newton that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is a game manager. It’s a point that Newton has since defended multiple times, including this week at the Super Bowl.
This is a really good interview with @CameronNewton and @dpshow.
Dan levels with Cam over the Purdy “game manager” moniker and Newton pretty eloquently explains his thought process, while showing self-awareness on assessing himself later in his career:
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) February 7, 2024
Mahomes’ assessment would indeed lend itself to the “game manager” label carrying positive connotations rather than negative. But it could also serve to raise the bar for Purdy. This game is already a veritable referendum on that very point. McKenna says the Chiefs’ weapons are worse than the 49ers’. It’s another point that may skew how Purdy is viewed in the aftermath of this game regardless of the outcome.
Mahomes’ legacy, though, seems secure.
He’s displayed the incredible and now is taking the league by storm doing the mundane. He also makes for a lofty comparison for Purdy this week and any other quarterback slapped with the “game manager” label going forward.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
