A former Super Bowl MVP and (soon to be two-time) league MVP, Patrick Mahomes’ legacy is already pretty solid ahead of Sunday night’s AFC Championship Game. But his performance during the ankle injury immediately made Mahomes one of the best quarterbacks in the 103-year history of the NFL.
A week after suffering a high ankle sprain, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 23-20 win over the Bengals, a team that handed Mahomes one of his worst losses in the game a year ago. Mahomes threw for 326 yards and scored twice, but his 5-yard run — including a 15-yard free throw after he was thrown out of bounds by Bengals linebacker Joseph Osey — put Harry in the final game for the Chiefs. Sen Butek’s game-winning field goal.
Mahomes will now fight for the right to join Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Ben Roethlisberger, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, Bob Griese, Bart Starr, John Elway, Peyton and Eli Manning as starting quarterbacks who David has won multiple Super Bowl rings. To do that, Mahomes had to beat an Eagles defense that racked up a staggering 70 sacks during the regular season.
Before we look ahead to the Super Bowl, however, let’s take a look at Mahomes’ performance against the Bengals and see how other players who have been seriously injured have put up a strong playoff run.
Jack Youngblood
Mahomes’ effort on Sunday was gritty, but Jack Youngblood still put up the most gutsy playoff performance in postseason history.Youngblood faces Steelers in Super Bowl XIV as Rams’ Hall of Fame guard broken legWith Youngblood on the floor, the Rams nearly beat the favored Steelers, and the Steelers beat Youngblood and Co.’s best punches before winning their fourth Super Bowl in six years.
“We’re confident we can play with Pittsburgh despite their three previous titles,” Youngblood tells CBS Sports in 2022. “We firmly believe that we can stop running and catch up [Terry] bradshaw and we can cover [Lynn] Swan and [John] Stallworth. Honestly, we hurt ourselves. They didn’t hurt us. We knocked each other down for two touchdowns. We had double coverage and they had 14 points in those two games. ”
Here’s the really crazy part of Youngblood’s story: He’s in next week’s Pro Bowl. Decades later, when asked why he attended the Pro Bowl, Youngblood said he didn’t want to miss that party.
“I mean, we’ve been through the season and it’s time to relax,” Youngblood said. “We do need to go out and compete. But it’s not that intense. It’s a show. Let me put that aside.”
Rod Woodson
This is a Steelers player who went to the Super Bowl with a serious injury and made history. Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson, who played for the Steelers, 49ers and Ravens, tore his AFC and injured him while trying to tackle Barry Sanders in the 1995 season opener medial collateral ligament.
Woodson somehow convinced Bill Caul to keep him on the active roster if the Steelers made the playoffs. However, that seemed unlikely as the Steelers limped off to a 3-4 start with Woodson and other notable starters dealing with injuries.
The Steelers won 10 of their next 11 games and won the Super Bowl thanks to a solid defense, five wide receivers and the exploits of receiver/running back/quarterback Cordell Stewart. admission ticket. While still not 100 percent, Woodson has recovered well enough to get dressed for the big game.
Woodson played well and actually broke down a Michael Owen pass in the second half. But the two interceptions proved costly, as the Steelers lost to the Dynasty Cowboys in a close game.
“Bill was open-minded and willing to listen,” Woodson tells CBS Sports in 2021“I don’t think any other coach in the league would do that. He really left that light for me at the end of the tunnel.
“Obviously if we had more injuries, if we had an injury-ridden second, they’d have to put me on the IR and put more guys on the active roster. Well done to the corner, and then we went back to the Super Bowl. It gave me a good chance. But it started with Bill Cowher saying, ‘You know what? I’ll listen to you. But if somebody gets hurt, I’m going to have to put you on IR. But if no one does, then we can ride this out.’”
Terrell Owens
Like Youngblood, Terrell Owens once suffered a broken leg in a Super Bowl game. The Hall of Fame catcher faced New England in Super Bowl XXXIX despite breaking his leg and tearing a vital ligament in his right ankle seven weeks ago. Not only did Owens play, he was the Eagles’ best player with nine catches for 121 yards. Owens’ efforts helped keep the Eagles in the game, but Philly was eventually outplayed by the Patriots and Brady, who also knew how to play with painful injuries in the playoffs.
tom brady
During practice during the week of the 2017 AFC Championship Game, Brady suffered a deep cut under the thumb of his right hand after colliding with a teammate. The injury was so severe that Brady doubted he would ever be the same.
Fortunately for Brady, the wound did not result in any structural damage, allowing Brady — despite the pain and inability to fully grip the ball — to face the Jaguars and earn Super Bowl rights. As the Patriots struggled early on at 14-3, Brady’s injury seemed to hamper his game. But as he has done throughout his career, Brady got his team to victory with the power of two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.
Brady then threw for a Super Bowl record 505 yards in a Super Bowl loss to the Eagles. He later won his sixth and seventh Super Bowls later in life. Brady’s last Super Bowl ring came at the expense of Mahomes, who returned to the big game for the third time in his still-young career.
