The eight quarterbacks who have reached the end of the NFL season on their feet will seek to occupy Patrick Mahomes’ vacant throne and succeed the Philadelphia Eagles, the team that slammed the door in his face in the last Superbowl, eliminated at the first opportunity. Without the omnipresent player of the last decade – seven years in a row in the conference finals, five finals and three titles –, unable this year to keep his Kansas City Chiefs in the fight for the play off Before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, a unique opportunity opens up. It is for many veterans without the honors that their careers deserve, like Matthew Stafford, the only one who knows what it is to be a champion, or Josh Allen, collector of agonizing defeats. And also for the next generation, names like Bo Nix or Drake Maye who not only aspire to the title but to be the next tyrant.
Mahomes’ injury was not the cause of the Chiefs’ worst recent season, but rather the cherry on top. They were already virtually eliminated as their knee said enough, with a balance of six wins and seven losses, most of them in tight finishes, their specialty in previous seasons. Someone who reached the conference finals in 2019 after his first season as a starter, a fairy tale that was only stopped by Tom Brady’s New England Patriots —the quarterback who has the most titles, with seven—in extra time. Already then he was MVP after equaling him with 50 passes touchdownan award that was repeated in 2022. Since then, only one other time has a team from its conference, the AFC, knocked the Chiefs out of the Superbowl: the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals. An almost historic domination, since their defeat in last year’s final against the Eagles deprived them of becoming the first to win three titles in a row after those of 2023 and 2024, added to 2020.
As was the case with Brady—since his first title there were more Superbowls with him than without him—history advises taking advantage of the years without Mahomes. Stafford did it to win with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. Four years later, he has his best season, with 46 passes. touchdowna figure that would clearly be worth an MPV, but the progress of his team, from more to less – it has gone from conference leader, the NFC, to sixth – complicates it. He saved the first round on Saturday, that of wild cardin Carolina against the Panthers, something that will have to be repeated on Sunday in Chicago against the Bears, led by Caleb Williams, one of the quarterbacks more unpredictable. The number one of draft of 2024 has chained insipid stretches with saving plays such as those that allowed his team to overcome the Packers and win their first elimination game since 2011. The play-off of the NFL are resolved in a single game between 14 teams, seven per conference. The first place finisher is exempt from the first round.
The award for the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, supported by outstanding defenses. The first ones have Bo Nix, number 12 of the draft of 2024, as quarterbackwith a more secondary role in a balanced attack, which is why he has almost half of the passes from touchdown than Stafford (25). The same as Sam Darnold, older, at 28 years old, the first to chain seasons of more than 14 wins – for three losses – on two different teams. It was not enough for him to continue with the Minnesota Vikings, with whom he fell at the first opportunity. This year he has a new opportunity with Seattle. He will host Brock Purdy’s San Francisco 49ers in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday, who came to the league with no expectations—the 262nd pick in 2022—and who has far surpassed them: he lost the 2024 Superbowl to Mahomes. He showed solvency to win at home to the Eagles on Sunday with two excellent final possessions, but the bleeding of injuries on his team took away one of his best partners in the passing game, George Kittle, He ruptured his Achilles tendon.
In a year of defenses, the best has been that of the Houston Texans, who starred in the only one of the six games of wild card that came resolved in the last two minutes: 30-6 in a temple like Pittsburgh. And they did it in a bad game of their quarterbackCJ Stroud, one of many mobile passers, very capable of running, like Mahomes. Other pick height of draft —number 2 in 2023— with a lot to prove. Like Drake Maye —third election of 2024—, perhaps the most balanced candidate for MVP due to the Patriots’ record (14-3) and his statistics – 31 passes touchdown for nine interceptions—and who aspires to be the third quarterback under 24 years old to play in a Superbowl, after legends like Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger. To do this you must get off at Stroud in the early hours of Saturday to Sunday.
Nobody has suffered Mahomes as much as Josh Allen, current MVP in a close vote with Lamar Jackson, another great victim who this year, greatly diminished by injuries, was left without play-off because he kicker of the Ravens missed the last kick of the regular season. Allen’s Buffalo Bills have lost four times in the last five years to the Chiefs: twice in the conference finals and twice in the previous round. Except for 2020, a clear 38-24, they were decided by a score. None like 2021, a game that was won when he scored a touchdown 13 seconds left. But a historic carom came: a restart kick directly outside that did not consume the clock, two passes from Mahomes in ten seconds to travel 44 yards and a kick between the sticks with time running out. The first possession of overtime, by toss, went to the Chiefs, who won the game with a touchdown. Allen’s scene, eliminated without the right to reply, hurt so much that the league changed the rule to give both teams at least one possession in overtime. After a regular season with doubts, his sixth-place team eliminated the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday with another big surgery of his own in the fourth quarter. His road to redemption passes through Denver on Saturday night. Mahomes is not there, but he is not the only thirsty beast.
