Getty Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady embrace after Super Bowl LV.
As the 2022 NFL schedule slowly trickles out onto the internet, the primetime matchups are starting to be revealed.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, one of next season’s headliners is the Super Bowl LV rematch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which could potentially be the final football game between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
When the legendary quarterback announced his retirement on February 1, “the GOAT” noted that it was time to pass the baton to the next generation of players, like Mahomes. He ended up getting cold feet, but even Brady cannot beat time.
Based on the fact that they play in opposite conferences, it’s likely that 2022 will produce the last official regular season matchup between the two superstars.
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Epic Primetime Billing Slated for Week 4
On May 12, the NFL dropped a big one, “Mahomes vs. Brady VI,” which is now slated as the Sunday Night Football game for Week 4 of the 2022 schedule. That means the official date should be October 2 at 8 p.m. EST.
Mahomes vs. Brady Part VI: Coming Week 4 on @SNFonNBC
📺: 2022 NFL Schedule Release — TONIGHT at 8pm ET on @nflnetwork
The Chiefs now have two games that are set in stone for this fall. The first was a Week 2 Thursday Night Football face-off against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers (at Arrowhead Stadium).
It is a little disappointing that this huge game will occur so early in the season. Teams tend to go through growing pains throughout the first few weeks and the Chiefs have a ton of new pieces on their roster.
The Bucs on the other hand have mostly run it back with a lot of the same players from 2021 and the Super Bowl campaign before that. This will also take away the drama of a potential playoff race factoring in.
Of course, teams figure to be healthier in Week 4 than they are down the stretch, so that is one pro of scheduling Chiefs-Bucs during the first month or so of football.
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History of Mahomes vs. Brady
This will be the sixth time the 26-year-old Mahomes goes up against the 44-year-old Brady. Between them, there are over 103,500 passing yards, 810 total touchdowns, 4 MVP awards, six Super Bowl MVPs and eight Super Bowl rings.
The first matchup occurred in 2018 on an October night and it started with a bang — with a final score of 43-40. Brady got the better of Mahomes this time, ending the Chiefs’ early undefeated streak at four games, but KC finished the regular season with a one-game lead in the AFC over the New England Patriots at 12-5.
Round two came in the postseason, three months later. The encore was somehow even better than the 80-plus point opener, ending in overtime. Again, Brady and the Patriots were victorious by a score of 37-31, but Mahomes never touched the football in OT.
The first Chiefs win over Brady came the following season, on December 8, 2019. Although the Pats came in two games better than Kansas City at 10-2, Mahomes led his side to an early 20-7 lead. In the end, the Chiefs held on 23-16.
Round four evened the score at two wins apiece, even though Brady traveled south before this matchup. In a late-November billing against the Buccaneers, Mahomes came out firing once again and had an even bigger lead at halftime. Brady did stage a typical fourth-quarter comeback after being down 17, but he fell short at 27-24.
Of course, Super Bowl LV was the fifth head-to-head between the QBs. Brady and the Bucs enacted their revenge in this one, as the pass rush swarmed an injury-ridden offensive line that was attempting to protect Mahomes. In the end, the championship matchup did not live up to expectations, with a blowout final of 31-9.
With a 3-2 lead in the series, it seemed like Mahomes might not get that final shot at tying things up. Now, he will, and expect “the next GOAT” to be ready.