Joe Montana was surpassed in NFL records by Patrick Mahomes

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Len Dawson completed his NFL career in 1975 as one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks. He led the league in completion percentage a record eight times and touchdown passes four times. The latter record stood until Tom Brady led the league in TD passes for a fifth time in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. By the standards of his era, Dawson — in his 14 seasons with the Chiefs organization — played the position at its highest level. Just as Patrick Mahomes is doing now. The difference is in the game itself, which explains how Mahomes, about to begin his seventh year as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, is poised to surpass Dawson in multiple Chiefs career passing categories. Perhaps during the first half of the Chiefs’ Thursday Night Football opener against the Baltimore Ravens, Mahomes will become the franchise’s career passing leader. He’s thrown for 28,424 yards in 96 regular-season games. He needs just 83 to match Dawson’s 28,507 yards in 183 games. Later this season, Mahomes — currently at 219 touchdown passes — will pass Dawson’s 237 to lead that category, as well. The statistical chase speaks to how much football has changed over the decades. The first quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season was Joe Namath in 1967. It didn’t happen again for another dozen years. As for Mahomes? He hasn’t passed for fewer than 4,000 yards in a full season. After Mahomes had broken Dawson’s record of 30 touchdown passes in a season — on his way to 50 — Mahomes sat with Dawson and Chiefs broadcaster Mitch Holthus in 2018 for an interview. The quarterbacks discussed each other’s game. “There’s nothing he can’t do,” said Dawson, the franchise legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer who died in 2022. “He’s got that rocket arm on him. He can get it in there, where you’re not supposed to be able to get in there.” Mahomes has always expressed an appreciation for Dawson — both his leadership and the numbers he put up before offenses became pass-first. “He pioneered the game,” Mahomes said Sunday. “The fact that he put those yards up and for that record to stand for so long speaks to the player he was.” The record will have stood for five decades. No team has had a longer career passing leader than the Chiefs. Dawson became the franchise leader in that category in 1963 and has been on top ever since. “There’s just more passing that goes on now, at all levels,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. A few teams’ old-school career passing leaders endure. Namath remains on top of the New York Jets’ list. And Fran Tarkenton is still No. 1 for the Minnesota Vikings, Brian Sipe for the Cleveland Bowns and Jim Hart for the Cardinals. All played long enough to continue to lead lead their organizations.

Patrick Mahomes is chasing Tom Brady. Brock Purdy is playing in the shadow of Joe Montana.

Winning the Super Bowl would be another major step for either quarterback.

Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs seek to become the first team in 19 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls when they take on Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.

For Mahomes, it’s an opportunity to win his third NFL championship in his sixth full season as a starter at age 28. Brady won his third of seven Super Bowl rings in his fourth season as a starter at age 27.

For Purdy, it’s a chance to complete his journey from being the last player selected in the 2022 draft to leading a storied franchise to a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title. Only the Patriots and Steelers have won six.

If Mahomes is going to make a run at Brady’s record, he has to win this one. These opportunities are rare.

The Chiefs had a difficult path to get to this point and had to go on the road twice in the playoffs for the first time in the Mahomes’ era. There’s a reason why no team has repeated since Brady led New England to two Super Bowl victories in a row in the 2003-04 seasons.

A third title in five years would solidify Kansas City’s claim to a dynasty. The Patriots won three in four years in the 2000s and they won three in five years in the 2010s.

“I think in dynasties, I always say you’ve got to win three,” Mahomes said before the season. “Our job is to do whatever we can to win as many as we can, not have any regrets when we step off the field. I think if we keep the mentality we have, we can look back at the end of our career (and) then we can decide if we’re a dynasty or not.”

The Chiefs realize they have a unique talent in Mahomes, already a certainty for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP has built an impressive resume and is working toward being in the GOAT conversation.

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“We see it every day, we don’t take that for granted,” coach Andy Reid said. “We respect the job that he does, and we appreciate it. We know we’re seeing something special, and he’s still young in this business. That’s a great thing for the Chiefs, it’s a great thing for the city. It’s somebody you can build around and (general manager) Brett Veach does a great job with that of making sure that other positions are relative to that. It’s a positive thing that we’re very aware of is the best way I can say it.”

If Purdy wins, he’ll stamp his own identity in San Francisco, where Montana led the 49ers to four championships in the 1980s and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer, Steve Young, helped them win their fifth title 29 years ago.

Purdy rose from being “Mr. Irrelevant” to replace Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance and won his first seven career starts, including two playoff games. But he suffered a significant elbow injury in the first quarter of San Francisco’s loss at Philadelphia in the NFC championship game last year.

Purdy returned from surgery to start the season opener and was outstanding, becoming a finalist for the AP NFL MVP award. He led the NFL with a 113 passer rating and his 9.6 yards per attempt were the most in the NFL for a qualifying QB since Kurt Warner had 9.9 in 2000. Purdy was the first Niners quarterback in more than 20 years to throw for more than 4,000 yards (4,280) or at least 30 TDs (31).

He’s helped the 49ers advance with a pair of comeback wins in the playoffs, showing off some of those “Joe Cool” qualities in the clutch that made Montana one of the all-time greatest winners.

And this week, Purdy, the AP has learned, signed a major deal with Toyota to be a national partner and brand ambassador, becoming the first active player the company has partnered with since signing a partnership with the NFL in October 2023.

All he needs now is a Super Bowl MVP trophy. He’d be happy with just a win.

“What a challenge. You’ve got Mahomes, what he does, their team, they’re special,” Purdy said. “They’re winners. They’ve proven that over however many years he’s been there. For us to go back and play them is going to be sweet, going to be special for all of us. I wasn’t here obviously in ’19. You could just tell the guys that have been here, like, anybody, it would be special for them to play these guys. I’m excited to be a part of it.”