Whether it was Mark Andrews’ dropped pass that could have sent the Ravens to the AFC Championship or Dalton Kincaid’s dropped pass that would have propelled the Bills to the Super Bowl, both teams clearly struggled to maintain composure against the Chiefs. On the biggest stage, calmness and poise have always been key to victory. And not just Andrews and Kincaid, but their QBs, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, lacked that composure. But not Patrick Mahomes—a quality Mark Schlereth has compared to what John Elway used to exhibit.
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In Schlereth’s recent appearance on Breakfast Ball, the former Broncos guard reflected on how John Elway’s presence alone could steady an entire team. Schlereth recalled that whenever Elway walked into the huddle, a sense of confidence and composure took over. His teammates believed that no deficit was too great and no challenge insurmountable because, with Elway under center, they always had a chance.
“There was a calm effect because he’s John Freakin Elway. Regardless of what the situation was in the game, [we’d feel that] you got them right where you want them. You could be down by 14, but you’re like — we’re all right.”
In Mark Schlereth’s eyes, Patrick Mahomes commands a similar impact as the Chiefs quarterback. With his incredible playoff track record and unmatched ability to come through in clutch moments, Mahomes alleviates any uncertainty about the outcome in his teammates’ minds, Schlereth asserted.
On the other hand, Schlereth believes the opposition is often distracted by the Mahomes factor. The Chiefs have been so dominant that it’s impossible to downplay them, which can have a psychological impact — something we saw with the Bills in the AFC title game.
“When Patrick Mahomes walks in the huddle, there’s a calming effect. Regardless of what the situation is, [the Chiefs players know that] we are going to make the plays to win a football game. That confidence permeates a roster… When the Bills play the Kansas City Chiefs in playoff games, you know what the Bills are thinking in their minds? ‘What’s going to happen to us? How’s this gonna go wrong? What are we gonna make as plays?’”
.@markschlereth compares playing with Patrick Mahomes to his time with John Elway
“When Elway walked into the huddle, there was a calming effect… And regardless of the situation, we got them right where we want them.” pic.twitter.com/ob5L3sJN30
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) January 31, 2025
Interestingly enough, comparing John Elway with Patrick Mahomes is a very intriguing exercise. For the Broncos fans, Elway is one of the greatest QBs of their franchise history, but a deeper statistical look makes one realize that the Chiefs star may have already overshadowed Elway’s career in just 7 seasons.
John Elway vs. Patrick Mahomes
As far as Super Bowls are concerned, Patrick Mahomes outperforms almost every QB not named Tom Brady, including Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Montana. John Elway is also nothing different, as he has only 2 Lombardi Trophies to show against Mahomes’ 3. While Mahomes was the MVP in each of his 3 Super Bowl victories, Elway has 1 SB MVP to show.
It’s the Pro Bowl appearances where Elway [9] really outshines Mahomes [6]. But considering how the Chiefs talisman has at least a decade more in the tank, Elway is most likely to get outshined here as well.
As far as individual QB stats are concerned, Mahomes clearly outshines in certain metrics — namely the Rush Y/A [5.2 vs 4.4], INT [74 vs 226], and Cmp% [66.6 vs 56.9].
As things stand, Patrick Mahomes is head and shoulders above an absolute legend like John Elway. No wonder why Mahomes is a hot prospect for the GOAT status. The success he has achieved in the past 7 seasons is truly remarkable.
