My Two Cents: Quarterback Envy On Super Bowl Sunday, And What Might Have Been
NASHVILLE — One constant in the NFL for decades now is that if you want to win a Super Bowl, you better have a great quarterback. Just good? Well, that isn't good enough.
There are a lot of talented quarterbacks in the league right now, and if you've got one, then you like your chances. The Kansas City Chiefs, for instance, have been to three Super Bowls in five years, and Patrick Mahomes is a big reason why. He won his second Super Bowl on Sunday night when the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.
He became the first NFL quarterback EVER to win league MVP, Super Bowl MVP and lead the league in passing yards and touchdowns in the same season.
You saw the EVER? Right?
Having a great quarterback is why AFC teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills also think they are eternal Super Bowl contenders. I loved Joe Burrow's line a few weeks ago when asked about the Bengals' window to win a Super Bowl.
"The window is my whole career,'' he said, and he meant it.
And today, the morning after the Super Bowl, here in Nashville, there's a bit of quarterback envy in watching guys like Mahomes and even Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs knew they got it right with Mahomes, who has played in five straight AFC Championship games now.
The Eagles were hoping Hurts could be an upgrade over Carson Wentz, but they weren't entirely sure. They took a chance — and hit big. Jalen Hurts, a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is now clearly a top-notch QB in this league.
For a lot of franchises in the NFL, floundering at the bottom of standings year after year is a terrible thing. That happens often to many franchises who never figure out the QB situation.
I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs of Northwest Indiana, and grew up rooting for the Bears, the poster-franchise for never figuring out the quarterback position. And NEVER is not too strong of a word. I remember on draft day in 2017, I was jumping for joy when the Bears traded up one spot from No. 3 to No. 2.
They did it, I was sure, to guarantee being able to select Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech. I knew his dad a bit from my baseball days and had watched him a lot in college. I loved the perfect mix of talent and bravado, and thought for sure he would lead the Bears to the promised land.
And then they drafted Mitchell Trubisky instead. So typical Bears. He turned out to be a bust, too, another piece in the Bears' legacy of garbage quarterback play.
Mahomes would hang around to the No. 10, where the Chiefs made an aggressive move up the board to get him, trading with the Buffalo Bills. Mahomes was thrilled to be drafted by Andy Reid, and reminded the nine teams ahead of them that they all would regret not drafting him.
That was certainly the case for the Bears, who walked away from Trubisky, then drafted Justin Fields again two years ago and now still have the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. Mahomes laughs at them at every chance.
There are a few other teams that regret not taking Mahomes, too. The Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and Carolina Panthers have all had quartereback issues since that 2017 draft, though the Jags appear to have that fixed now with Trevor Lawrence. The Jets and Panthers? Not so much. And none of the three guys those teams chose — Leonard Fournette (Jags), Jamal Adams (Jets) and Christian McCaffery (Panthers) — are even still on the rosters of the teams that drafted them.
And let's not forget who picked No. 5 that year — the Tennessee Titans.
It's a bit easier to give the Titans a pass on not drafting Mahomes with the No. 5 pick that year, because they really did think they had their quarterback of the future in Marcus Mariota, whom they drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He won games for the Titans, and even won a playoff game, but I'm sure if the Titans could do all of that all over again, they would. They drafted wide receiver Corey Davis instead.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes talks with Titans quarterback Malik Willis after their Nov. 6 overtime games in Kansas City, won by the Chiefs 20-17. (USA TODAY Sports)
Mariota, of course, was benched in favor of Ryan Tannehill during the 2019 season, and then the Titans moved on from Mariota for good by hitching their wagon to Tannehill, who's the starting quarterback still — and at least for now — as he enters the last year of his contract.
There's been plenty of talk already this offseason about the Titans moving on from him, as well. The majority of the fan base seems to be onboard with that move, too, and it makes for one of the great storylines of the offseason. The jury is still out on Malik Willis, the Titans' third-round pick a year ago, and huge changes could be afoot.
For all of that, we'll have to see.
And looking back at hat might have been? It's an easy game to play after the fact, that's for sure. But when I watch Mahomes win another Super Bowl — and you know he's not done, right? — it does make you wonder.
Related columns from Tom Brew
- HELLO, NASHVILLE: New AllTitans.com publisher Tom Brew says hello to Nashville, finally coming home to his family roots after an award-winning journalism career in Florida and Indiana. Here is his first column for the Sports Illustrated/FanNation site, with plans for his strong lineup of reporters and staff for the coming year, and links to new social media sites. CLICK HERE
