Stephen A. Smith, Dan Orlovsky crown Patrick Mahomes ‘GOAT,’ ‘greatest player in history of game’

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes put together another impressive playoff performance on Sunday against the Ravens, a performance that ESPN analysts Stephen A. Smith and Dan Orlovsky believe elevates him to the greatest player in NFL history.

The Chiefs were shut out in the second half and finished with only 17 points in the 17-10 win, but Smith and Orlovsky were still blown away by what Mahomes did.

“This is about the best player in the history of the game – Patrick Mahomes.,” Dan Orlovsky said Monday morning on First Take. “Tom Brady could be the GOAT, because he’s got the Super Bowls. [Mahomes is] the best player in the history of the game. We are taking for granted greatness, myself included. What Patrick Mahomes did yesterday, against the best defense in arguably the last 10 years in the NFL, is absolutely remarkable.”

Mahomes led the Chiefs to touchdowns on their first two drives of the game as Kansas City took an early 14-7 lead.

Kansas City was held out of the end zone on its final nine possessions but it didn’t matter as the early success proved to be enough to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the last five years.

“Mahomes is great. He’s phenomenal. He’s the greatest ever. We get all of that. They ended up scoring 17 points, even though that doesn’t speak to how effective they were when it really, really counted and how him and Kelce were doing,” Smith said.

“You know who you’re going up against. It wasn’t CJ Stroud – a rookie. This was Patrick Mahomes. A two-time Super Bowl champion, universally recognized as arguably the greatest ever, until yesterday when we’re going to say the greatest ever. You knew you were going against that dude.”

Mahomes has a chance to win his third Super Bowl when the Chiefs face the 49ers on Feb. 10. Even with a win, he would still be four behind Tom Brady. Either way, Orlovsky believes Mahomes is the greatest player ever.

“When Patrick came into the league it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, never seen anything like this guy, jaw dropping, primetime, unbelievable plays.’ And we watched yesterday, the first two drives, that be exactly who Patrick was,” Orlovsky said. “Some of those third-down plays that he had to Travis Kelce, no one else in the world is making those, in the history of this game.

“And then we saw him just choke this game and suffocate this game and manage this game, by the decision making, by the way that he didn’t take sacks and the way he didn’t give the football away.”

While the Chiefs offense was shut out in the second half, Mahomes and company did make a huge play late.

Facing a third-and-nine at its own 46 and 2:19 remaining in the game, Mahomes found Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 32-yard gain to allow the Chiefs to run out the clock.

“We’ve seen this evolution of a guy that was an unbelievable talent and now has become this remarkable leader. And with the game on the line, he throws it to the guy who cost them games with his drops this year,” Orlovsky said. “You saw this leadership that took hold of this football team and led them back to another Super Bowl.”