Picture this: Patrick Mahomes, the golden-armed wizard of Kansas City, steps onto football’s grandest stage again. Three-peat dreams dangle like a carrot. Tom Brady, now in a headset, watches as a veteran of GOAT’s past. The script writes itself—until it doesn’t. What unfolded wasn’t just a game, though.

It was a legacy-altering avalanche. And NFL legend Richard Sherman wasn’t ready to keep his silence when it came to the GOAT debate. Meanwhile, somewhere in the wreckage, a viral sideline moment sparked a fire. Buckle up. This isn’t just about a loss. It’s about how legends are unmade—and how one awkward handshake became the internet’s obsession.

The Chiefs’ 22-40 Super Bowl LIX collapse wasn’t just a loss. It was a referendum. Richard Sherman, never one to mince words, dropped a truth bomb on his podcast: “It’s gonna be VERY, VERY—and I can’t emphasize enough—very difficult for him to ever recover from this when you talk about the GOAT conversation.” Mahomes’s two interceptions, six sacks, and first-half meltdown?

Sherman called them “catastrophic” for a veteran QB. “A guy with 3 Super Bowls under his belt, multiple Super Bowl MVPs. This is 2024, not 2019. These mistakes are catastrophic.” He is not wrong. Others didn’t sit idle either.

“There was a point you knew Mahomes was dead. Brady never died. I’m not here to bury Mahomes. He belongs in the top-five conversation. Even the top three. But you can’t put a lesser god up on the same mountaintop with Zeus,” pundit Jonathan Lemire added, referencing Patrick Mahomes’s 34-0 third-quarter deficit. Indeed, the stats don’t lie.

Mahomes now trails Tom Brady 0-2 in head-to-head postseason and 3-7 in rings. Ouch! Postgame, Mahomes didn’t hide. “I let y’all down,” he tweeted, owning his mistakes. His 17th-ranked offense had squeaked by all year. But Sunday’s errors?

They were magnified under the Super Bowl spotlight. Even Travis Kelce, usually electric, managed just 39 yards. Meanwhile, Philly’s defense feasted. Cooper DeJean’s pick-six felt like a dagger. Still, Mahomes vowed, “We will be back.” The question isn’t if he’ll return—it’s how he’ll claw back into the Brady debate.

Sherman’s verdict stings because it’s rooted in history. Brady’s comebacks—2007 Giants, 2016 Falcons—are folklore. Mahomes? His lone comeback attempt Sunday fizzled. Yet at 29, he’s already got three rings. Drew Brees notes longevity matters: “It’s early. It’s early from the perspective that, even though he’s done stuff that’s unprecedented, there’s a longevity component that goes with that, right?” Age can’t be an excuse. Indeed, Brady won four titles after 30.

Mahomes has time. But each misstep now feels heavier. The Eagles exposed flaws—happy feet, forced throws—that Brady rarely showed. Even Andy Reid’s genius couldn’t save him. However, as the clock wound down, cameras caught Mahomes consoling teammates—but skipping one of them.

The sideline snub heard ‘round the world

Yeah, it’s Samaje Perine. The RB stood up, expectant. Perhaps, Mahomes walked past him to hug Kelce. Cue the internet meltdown. Consequently, ‘Bad leadership!’ critics screamed. Cue the drama! Perine, though, shut it down fast. “Lol I actually stood up to untie my pants string, no one blamed anybody,” he commented on Instagram. “It’s not that deep.” The RB, who had just 8 rushing yards all night, laughed off the “snub.” But the moment stuck—a weird footnote in a brutal loss.

The Perine paradox: much ado about nothing? Let’s rewind that sideline moment. Perine, a backup RB, played 17 snaps. Mahomes, shell-shocked, hugged stars like Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster. When he reached Perine, the RB stood—then sat back down. Just the optics-fueled narratives. In defeat, every gesture gets dissected. Moreover, for Mahomes, even a split-second lapse becomes a metaphor. But the Chiefs’ dynasty isn’t dead.

However, cracks showed. Their O-line crumbled. Receivers dropped passes. Moreover, Mahomes’s hero-ball habits backfired. Meanwhile, Philly’s Jalen Hurts outdueled him, tossing four TDs. Kansas City’s path back starts with fixing the basics. Mahomes’ pledge to “learn and be better” must translate.

As Sherman warned, “He got away with a lot of football 101 rules that he has been breaking for a long time that he wasn’t able to break in the Super Bowl.” Meanwhile, Brady’s shadow looms larger than ever. Three rings. Five Super Bowl trips. An MVP résumé. But Sunday’s loss?

It’s a stain. Undoubtedly, Sherman’s right—Patrick Mahomes’ GOAT case took a hit. But greatness isn’t defined by one game. Brady lost Super Bowls too. The difference? He always rose. Mahomes now faces his Lazarus moment. Can he reinvent himself, silence doubters, and chase down Brady? Or will this loss haunt him like Peyton Manning’s Seattle meltdown? One thing’s certain: The NFL’s best drama isn’t on the field. It’s in the history books—and Mahomes is still writing his.

So, Chiefs Kingdom—will Mahomes climb the mountain, or is Brady’s throne forever out of reach?