Hall of Famer Warren Moon delights in Patrick Mahomes rising to Super Bowl challenge

NEW ORLEANS – Few quarterbacks at any level of football have led teams to consecutive championships, let alone three or more in a row.

Warren Moon is on that impressive list.

While starring for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Moon directed the team to a record five straight league titles. The Pro Football Hall of Famer knows it’s rare for one franchise to dominate for such a long stretch, which is why Moon marvels of the accomplishments of the Kansas Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

With Mahomes leading the way, the two-time defending Super Bowl champs will face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Super Bowl LIX, trying to set a new standard for excellence in the Super Bowl era. No team has won three consecutive Super Bowl championships, and Moon has delighted in watching Mahomes attempt to break new ground.

“People forget that this kid [Mahomes] is only in his eighth year. What he has done, what he has accomplished … it truly is remarkable,” Moon, the only player enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame, told Andscape in a lengthy phone interview last week.

“For a lot of guys [quarterbacks], by this point in their careers, they haven’t even reached a conference championship game let alone a Super Bowl. But the Chiefs are just a very different team. Yes, they have great coaches. Yes, they have other great players. And you need all of that. But it starts with that quarterback.”

Since Mahomes became the Chiefs’ starter before the 2018-19 season, everyone else in the NFL has been playing catch-up.

Kansas City has won seven straight AFC West titles and played in seven straight AFC Championship games. On kickoff Sunday at Caesars Superdome, the Chiefs will officially become the first team to play in five Super Bowls in a span of six seasons.

What’s more, Kansas City has won nine consecutive playoff games. If the Chiefs defeat the Eagles in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons (Kansas City won Super Bowl LVII, 38-35), they’ll tie the New England Patriots (2001-05) for the most consecutive postseason victories with 10.

Last season, the Chiefs joined the NFL’s dynasty club by winning three Super Bowls in five seasons. In doing so, they became the first team since the Patriots in 2004 and 2005 to win back-to-back Super Bowls.

At Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas almost a year ago, Mahomes set his sights on an elusive Super Bowl three-peat mere minutes after the Chiefs became back-to-back champions with a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in overtime. While Chiefs players, coaches and support personnel shared tears of joy with their families and made confetti angels on the field, Mahomes enlisted All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones, his defensive counterpart in the Chiefs’ dynasty, to join him on an historic quest.

“When you’re on that stage and you’re celebrating, you start thinking about the guys [who] are coming back,” Mahomes told reporters in Kansas City last week. “You think about how young that football team was last year, and you knew that we had a chance to be in this position. You’re winning, you’re enjoying that moment. … But at the same time, you have a bigger picture of your entire career.”

Regardless of the outcome of the season’s final game, the Chiefs are assured of the best finish in NFL history of a team that has won consecutive Super Bowls.

In the Super Bowl era, which began in 1967, nine teams have won consecutive titles (the Pittsburgh Steelers accomplished the feat twice). The Chiefs are the first such team to return to the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season. The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1990 San Francisco 49ers and 1994 Dallas Cowboys returned to their conference championship games the season after becoming back-to-back champions.

The combination of the Chiefs’ stunning success and Mahomes’ individual accomplishments have already elevated him to all-time great status among those who have played the most important position in sports.

During the Chiefs’ dominant run, Mahomes has won three Super Bowl MVP awards, two Associated Press league MVP awards, an AP Offensive Player of the Year Award and twice been selected an AP first-team All-Pro. With 17 playoff victories, Mahomes ranks second in NFL history behind Tom Brady, who has 35.

Once Mahomes starts for the fifth time in the Super Bowl, he’ll join Brady and Elway as the only signal-callers in league history to do so. Brady made his fifth start at the age of 34. Elway was 38. Mahomes is 29.

“Just being where they are now, getting back to the Super Bowl, is one of the greatest accomplishments in NFL history. Winning it would be the greatest accomplishment because no one has done it,” Moon said. “I can kind of relate on a different level because we won five [consecutive] championships when I played in Canada. Now, it definitely was not the NFL, but it was professional football. What’s the same is you’re getting everybody’s best effort every week.

“When they play against you, all the other teams want to knock you off. It’s their biggest game of the season. That’s the same thing the Chiefs face. But somehow, you’re able to rise to the challenge each week and pull out those games. It’s very, very hard. So for not only Patrick, but the rest of the team as well, to be on top of your game each week and be able to keep pulling them out … it’s very, very impressive.”

Nowhere is Mahomes’ mettle, and that of the entire Chiefs team, more obvious than in the fourth quarter of one-score games. This season, the Chiefs have emerged victorious in 12 one-score games. They’re undefeated in their last 17 one-score games.

Mahomes’ ability to stay cool under pressure is one of his greatest attributes, Moon said, and it energizes the Chiefs.

“Patrick isn’t going to get rattled. Time after time, he’s proven that,” Moon said. “When you have a guy at that spot who guys look to and know that if they just do their jobs, you’ve got a shot, there’s nothing more important than that. You can tell by what the Chiefs have done all these years – and what they’re trying do to now.”

And if the Chiefs finish the job yet again Sunday, Moon will eagerly welcome Mahomes into an exclusive club in which Moon has been a longtime member.

-----------------------

By: Jason Reid
Title: Hall of Famer Warren Moon delights in Patrick Mahomes rising to Super Bowl challenge
Sourced From: andscape.com/features/hall-of-famer-warren-moon-delights-in-patrick-mahomes-rising-to-super-bowl-challenge/
Published Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:17:09 +0000