⚔️ Brady vs. Mahomes: A True Clash Of Titans

The current GOAT is set to take on the potential future GOAT in a Super Bowl matchup that’s as juicy as it gets. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are set to take on Tom Brady and the Bucs in a Super Bowl matchup that’s as juicy as it gets in both star power and context ... we take a look at why it’s not too late for the NBA to return to a bubble ... and we are treated to a must-see Super Bowl graphic, compliments of our team at FOX Sports. And now, the Super Bowl. There were times when this National Football League season felt like a race against the clock, a battle to squeeze in all those weeks of action before the turmoil we’ve learned to live with delivered an obstacle too great to surmount. Yet here it is, the grandest of all games now primed and ready, complete with a blockbuster storyline to top it all off. The NFL knows how to market itself and does so expertly. But, no disrespect intended, it has an extraordinarily simple task this time around. Anyone who can’t figure out how to promote the Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Patrick Mahomes vs. Tom Brady, should give it up and try something else. Or give me a call. It is a head-to-head that’s as juicy as it gets in both star power and in context. For while it is rife with tired old cliches – yes, this is a heavyweight battle and the passing of the torch and a matchup made in ratings heaven - it is made better by the specifics. [STORY IMAGE 1] Namely, that two future Hall of Famers will lead their respective teams at Raymond James Stadium a week from Sunday, and somehow, the guy who has won six Super Bowls already feels like a massive underdog. Brady doesn’t just feel like the outsider, he is one, according to the oddsmakers. [FOX Bet]( lists the Chiefs at -162, with Mahomes and co. a 3.5-point favorite. “The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl,” Mahomes told reporters. “Being able to go up against one of the greatest, if not the greatest QB of all time … it is going to be a great experience for me. To go out there to have a chance to repeat and get to do it against the best is something special.” It is a clash set up to build the mystique of one man in the same way it gives maximum force to the story. Mahomes, in rapid time, has established himself and his Chiefs as a juggernaut. Unstoppable? No one is unstoppable. Or are they? [STORY IMAGE 2] If you don’t score against the Chiefs, they’ll score on you. Score against them and get a lead, they’ll score on you even more. Ask the Buffalo Bills defense if Mahomes’ unit feels unstoppable after their repeated downfield marches, including three in a row for touchdowns in the second quarter. Ask the San Francisco 49ers, who thought they had it all wrapped up a year ago, when the world was different but Mahomes was already imperious. For Brady, a seventh title would add to his already ridiculous numbers, but it would also do it in the most fairytale of ways. A Super Bowl is the most cherished item in the sport for a reason - it is really difficult to win. Yet if he does it this way, it will be its own special chapter and the finest of the lot. He’ll have done it without the vibrancy of youth, despite all that sleep and all those vegetables cooked in coconut oil. And without Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots machine and most of all, he’ll have done it when he wasn’t supposed to, when so many doubted he could, without so many of the inherent advantages of the past. “Step back and try to behold what just happened,” [FS1’s Skip Bayless said on Undisputed](. “Comprehend what just got pulled off. Tom Brady, at age 43, the GOAT, just went to Lambeau Field and outplayed (Aaron Rodgers) on his own frozen tundra. He said: ‘Okay, coach Belichick, watch this, I am going to take a team that went 7-9 last year and … we are going to go on a run.’” [STORY IMAGE 3] Topping Mahomes and overcoming the Chiefs juggernaut would not only show Brady as truly timeless, with triumphs in three decades, but perhaps bookend things perfectly. In his first Super Bowl there was an offensive behemoth on the other side, Kurt Warner’s St. Louis Rams. Here comes another. Meanwhile, besting Brady to win a second title would add a special sheen to Mahomes’ career - and who knows how far it can go from here? It is the best matchup because for all the differences, there are a lot of similarities too. A Chiefs triumph would put Mahomes and Kansas City on a track trending toward the kind of dynasty that only Brady’s Patriots have managed in modern times. We are talking about two guys able to live at a level of dominance that leaves no place for others and in which sharing the love among other greats of the era doesn’t come into it. [STORY IMAGE 4] It is the sort of thing that leaves even some of the best of all-time, such as Rodgers, effectively shut out. And up-and-comers like Josh Allen, backed by an excellent unit and coming off an outstanding season, effectively backed into a corner. The Bills were “just” one game away from a Super Bowl. Yeah, “just.” Mahomes and Brady are who they are, in part, because there’s a certain sense of inevitability that feels like they are magnetized to winning. Sometimes it is inexplicable, like at times during the Bucs’ three road wins, where they have somehow found a way. Yet ultimately, when it all boils down to it, you expect to see Mahomes and Brady win, because we’ve seen it so often before and because they never, ever, expect anything less. Two Sundays from now, one of them won’t be able to make good on that eternal promise. Which will only add to the aura, and, for each of them, increase the urgency. [STORY IMAGE 5] Here’s what others have said ... Jason Reid, The Undefeated: “Superstar athletes absolutely abhor talk of their “passing the torch.” Eventually, though, every reign ends. Which brings us to Super Bowl LV. In two weeks at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will finally get what he has craved for more than two years: another opportunity to face Tom Brady in the postseason and potentially add the only missing piece to the historic start of his nascent career.” Terez Paylor, Yahoo Sports: “When it’s all said and done, Patrick Mahomes may go down as the greatest football player of all time. Yes, the shadow of Tom Brady and his six rings still looms large, especially since the two will meet in the Super Bowl in two weeks. But Mahomes may one day get there, and that isn’t a reckless or controversial statement.” Danny Heifetz, The Ringer: “This is football’s version of Michael Jordan playing LeBron James in the NBA Finals. Brady is the greatest quarterback ever. Mahomes is the only quarterback who could potentially vie for that distinction. At 25, he has had the best start to his career of any American athlete in a team sport since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But no matter what Mahomes accomplishes for the rest of his career—even if he wins five straight Super Bowls—he’ll likely never be considered the GOAT if he loses to Brady in this game. A seventh ring would put Brady one ahead of MJ, and would likely end Mahomes’ quest to be the GOAT before it ever begins.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Across the NBA, a return to bubble life is picking up supporters. [Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix]( explains why it’s not too late for the NBA to return to a bubble. - Despite one of the weirdest years in college football history, the top-ranked recruits in the class of 2020 had a banner year. There were standouts across the board with the top of this class looking like one of the strongest in recent memory. [Chris Hummer of 247Sports.com]( takes a look at how the 2020 class fared in year one. - The Orlando Magic have a young center with tantalizing potential who has barely seen the floor in three seasons. The reason? They’re trying to win. [The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks]( details the plight of Mo Bamba and developing young NBA bigs. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( There were so many good posts across social media following the Chiefs’ victory over the Bills on Sunday, setting up Brady and the Bucs vs. Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. There was this [hilarious tweet from SportsCenter,]( 43-year-old Brady vs. 25-year-old Mahomes to Yoda vs. Baby Yoda. There was [this tweet from ESPN’s Mina Kimes,]( claiming the matchup of Brady vs. Mahomes as being the GOAT vs. BABY GOAT. But this must-see graphic from our design team here at FOX Sports takes the cake. Check out this design, which features so many great details, from the ships in the background, to the water theme, to the lightning striking the Lombardi Trophy. Big props to the FOX Sports design team for putting this incredible graphic together! [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Syracuse at Virginia (ESPN, 7p.m. ET) Quincy Guerrier and the Syracuse Orange take on Sam Hauser and the No. 8-ranked Virginia Cavaliers. WWE Monday Night Raw (USA, 8 p.m. ET) Drew McIntyre is set to confront Goldberg in his return to WWE Monday Night Raw. Texas Tech at West Virginia (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET) Mac McClung and the No. 10-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders battle Miles McBride and the No. 11-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Texas Tech at West Virginia: UNDER 136.5 Mac McClung and the No. 10-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers in a Big 12 clash. These are two of the top defensive programs in the country. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in defense and are the only team in the conference to hold their opponents to under 60 points per contest. On the other side, Bob Huggins and his West Virginia teams are always known for great defense, and it is the same story this season as the Mountaineers are holding opponents to under 69 points per game. FOX Bet has set the O/U in this game at 136.5. Taking the under looks like a solid play here. [WHAT THEY SAID] “If you don’t believe in yourself, why is anyone else going to believe in you?” — Tom Brady [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2021 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. Fox.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, California 90213-0900