Patrick Mahomes has a chance to surpass Joe Montana's playoff legacy in half the time

For a long time, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana was seen as the gold standard for quarterbacks.

Montana led his teams to 11 playoff appearances during his 16-year career. By the time he retired after the 1994 season, Montana was perched atop postseason passing leaderboards in most major statistical categories. He finished his decorated career as the league’s all-time postseason leader in completions (460), passing yards (5,772) and passing touchdowns (45). 

Most notably, Montana retired as the NFL’s all-time postseason leader in games played (23) and playoff wins (16) by a starting quarterback. He guided the San Francisco 49ers to four Lombardi Trophies, joining Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to win four Super Bowl championships. 

At the time of his retirement, many of those numbers were considered to be insurmountable. Then, Tom Brady shattered all of those figures during his illustrious 23-year career. 

Patrick Mahomes could surpass Joe Montana’s playoff wins

In 2024, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a chance to cement his name ahead of Montana in the record books. Entering the 2024 postseason, Mahomes needs just two more wins to surpass Montana on the all-time leaderboard for career playoff wins. 

Kansas City’s victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII marked Mahomes’ 15th playoff win. Mahomes will tie Montana’s career playoff win total if the Chiefs win their divisional round playoff game, and he’ll have an opportunity to tie Montana’s four championships if the Chiefs advance to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Montana notched his 16th playoff win in his 15th season, but Mahomes could reach that milestone in just his eighth year in the league. The 29-year-old star has already won three Super Bowl championships in just seven postseason trips.

Kansas City selected Mahomes with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he spent his rookie year watching veteran quarterback Alex Smith lead the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game. Teams typically don’t make a quarterback change after their starting quarterback led them to a conference championship appearance, but Mahomes was named the starter in 2018.

Most young quarterbacks find themselves on a team that can best be described as an old car with a sputtering engine, but Mahomes was handed the keys to a Ferrari. It was arguably the most favorable situation any young quarterback has ever had, and Mahomes took full advantage of it. 

While surpassing Montana is within reach, Brady’s figures are still far beyond the visible horizon. Mahomes has just three playoff losses on his résumé, and two of those were handed to him by the all-time great.