Something that I don't think people are taking into considering either. This was not the first time the Broncos played Mahomes, so he didn't catch them off guard. They knew first hand what to expect and came prepared. It showed. It didn't matter.
He's legit, but he does also have to prove himself, for up to 19 games a year, just as Tom Brady and every other QB still has to do. It is a team game too, and as we've seen, an amazing QB definitely makes a big difference but it doesn't guarantee you a Super Bowl win or success. Marino was amazing his first several years, but never got anything to show for it (well one Super Bowl appearance, where he got Montana'ed).
Mahomes looks like he has the poise of the great ones, the scrambling ability of the best of them (and he probably has better accuracy and maybe a stronger arm than all of them while doing it), the throwing ability of the best (not always the accuracy or best placement though...yet, mostly because I feel like he needs to get timing down more and learn to hit guys consistently where they can continue on and get YAC), he's smart enough mentally but has and I think this will become the thing people make note of more and more as they see more, maybe the best vision (its almost more like an extrasensory perception) of a QB, where he sees things that I don't know how you could from his position. He's also flashed this but I don't know that its actually shown up in a game yet, like literally perfect on the mark no look - meaning he literally looks away from the receiver before and while throwing - intermediate passes. Its like he looks that way once to calibrate and can see their trajectory and can look away and throw it so that it gets to them at the right time and position.
It will be every week, that people will be hearing about some amazing play or throw he made. I think I change my opinion, because I think it will be stuff that people won't get sick of because he'll constantly amaze them in some new way where they just can't help but enjoy it. There was a player several years back (he might even still be a backup), I think they nicknamed him trickshot (Alex Tanney or something was his real name) because he was doing all these crazy trick throws while in college (he made YouTube videos). He couldn't really do it live in an NFL game though. Mahomes probably can't do the no-pressure trickshots as well, but he could probably nail them in a live game with pressure.
Superstar all tool? Why are you acting like Mahomes is some running QB? Mahomes runs about like Roethlisberger or Rodgers (he might even run less than them, but he's running to pass, not to run; he runs less than Alex Smith, Kaepernick, let alone RG3 or Tebow or Vick). I think he's stouter than Rodgers (and Wilson), and he's not as stupid as Roethlisberger (hopefully he keeps from crashing a motorcycle...oh and "allegedly" trying to rape people). Did you guys see Mahomes just brush that rusher aside on one of the plays against the Broncos? (It was on an incomplete pass to the back of the end zone so it didn't get shown a bunch.) And he's thrown (good passes) while being tackled (last year against the Broncos, he shimmied just enough to stay upright while the guy was wrapping up his legs and throw a perfect pass 25 yards for a first down).
https://imgur.com/6SSUOV2
Brady had an impenetrable wall? I still personally think Brady is doing stuff like getting stem cell treatments and/or HGH or blood transfusion stuff, probably outside the country and in secret; I definitely am not buying his explanation of oh he changed his diet and does yoga now. But, he's taken hits and gotten beaten up in games a good amount, even somewhat recently (I remember watching some game from the past few years and cringing at how much and some of the hits he was taking, but he kept getting up and it didn't seem to be messing with him too much - I seem to recall he adjusted and started getting the ball out and tore the team to pieces in the second half and he still took hits).
The Chiefs line isn't that bad. Its better than the one Wilson has been behind for years. I disagree, I think Wilson would be fine if he didn't still have a bad line and little offensive talent around him. Even then he consistently plays well if not outright good to great. If Wilson was on the Chiefs, he'd be doing very well (he'd have done better than Alex Smith the past couple of years). I think Mahomes could be better than Wilson (has more size, is more stout, bigger arm, and I think he has more field vision than just about any QB I've ever seen).
We won't know how good he is til his career is over, so why say next year, or year 3? There are QBs that have played great for several years but never really got anything meaningful (Moon, Cunningham, Jim Kelly, Boomer Esiason; hell Elway was that way until they loaded that team up and got probably the best two years out of a running back in all NFL history). And sure he could be elite but not win much of anything if its squandered on bad teams/etc. You won't be able to compare his stats, because he's growing up solely in the new era so I think that will quickly become futile. I don't know, maybe they'll bring back bump and run or something to try to equalize things for defenses, but doubt it.
Barring major injury (I hope Luck can get back to his full physical potential), people expecting Mahomes to start playing worse are going to be in for a surprise (that doesn't mean more crazy TD numbers, no turnovers ever, let alone never losing; nor does it mean that defenses won't figure some way of mitigating his talent). His mental ability is probably as sharp if not sharper than his physical skills. And he's basically just started really learning (I think he's someone that learns by doing, so the more he plays the more he'll learn and improve). Its like he processes the game (meaning the heat of the moment during plays) at some next level.
I think Reid actually made Mahomes look worse than he is in the Broncos game. The playcalling for most of the first 3 quarters was not great (too much of those motion/gadget plays), but Reid kept trying to make it work when it largely wasn't and so they didn't get the offense timing and rhythm going until about the 4th quarter). Denver handled the Chiefs offense quite well, and they deserve credit, but I think if Reid had come out running and then start doing play action and screens, the Chiefs would have tore the Broncos aggressiveness to shreds, and I think that would've opened up something deep; basically if they'd have run something like the gameplan they did against the Patriots in the opener last year).
I agree with that. He very well could be better than all of those at that. But he's not a one-trick pony either. You remember (or did you even see) that bomb he threw in preseason? He threw that while stepping up a bit in the pocket while pressure was collapsing in on him. His arm will let him make plays he should know better than to try, and he'll have to adjust to that with age. Which, hey, maybe he'll have Favre's longevity (and keep his arm strength similarly). He doesn't have the pinpoint accuracy of Brees, but he can place the ball in windows that I don't think Brees ever could (not a knock against Brees; I don't think people have seen it yet, but there's throws he made last year, I think in the preseason, where its like a sinker or a curve ball in baseball, where the ball changes trajectory like 2/3 of the way there, so he can throw it and it looks like its just a straight heat, but then it curves or sinks right to the receiver). I don't believe we've even seen that fully yet. We're going to see some insane crazy throws from him. I think the "showtime" nickname isn't a good fit, he's a fucking wizard and people are going to struggle to describe what he does. And he'll make it look easy, so average people won't be able to see why it was amazing.
Which with Wilson and now Mahomes, I think we'll see a move to consider baseball pitching prospects a lot. I know Elway was one too.
While I still think Kaepernick was/is better than you give him credit for, he was not close to what Mahomes has done, stats or eye test wise (seriously go back to that Denver game from last year, Mahomes threw zero TDs and 1 INT, and I don't think he even topped 300 yards, and percentage wise it wasn't great, but he led a comeback, and just watching him you could tell he was special). Actually you seem to have no clue what you're talking about. That Packers playoff game was like the 8th game Kaep started.