Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy and their Las Vegas ‘battle’: I’ve never seen so much hate for a quarterback

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49rs stars are in the Super Bowl spotlight

It’s well into one of the most special weeks of the year, the Super Bowl. Few, if any, sporting events generate as much news as the final game of the NFL season.

The world stops on Sunday to witness the most anticipated annual battle of the year, which will be between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in 2024.

Travis Kelce plays mind games with 49ers fans booing him in Las Vegas

The 58th edition is almost every football fan’s dream. On one side are the reigning champions with the chance to turn their dominance into a dynasty. They also have Patrick Mahomes, the best player in the world, in their ranks.

And on the other, one of the oldest teams in the NFL with a star-studded roster and a very special quarterback who has completely showed up the doubters that selected him last in the 2022 NFL Draft in the form of Brock Purdy.

The Chiefs vs the 49ers will be focused on a duel between the two quarterbacks to supply their receivers, but there is one area that it’s an absolute no-contest between the pair. Salaries. Patrick Mahomes, MVP of last season, winner of two rings and an annual salary of $45m against Brock Purdy and his salary of $900,000.

Tale of the Tape

So how to the pair match up against each other? MARCA looked at their 2023 regular season stats to give you a preview into the likely protagonists of the upcoming showdown at the Allegiant Stadium.

The game will take place on Sunday, February 11 and will begin at 18:30 ET.

Patrick Mahomes (28 years old)

Yards: 4183 (Sixth)
Yards per attempt: Seven (12th)
Touchdowns: 27 (Eighth)
Rating: 92.6 (14th)
Salary: $45,000,000

Brock Purdy (24 years old)

Yards: 4280 (Fifth)
Yards per attempt: 9.6 (First)
Touchdowns: 31 (Third)

Purdy backed by Chiefs’ coach

Despite playing for the rival team to Andy Reid, the Chiefs’ head coach came out in praise of the young quarterback for the 49ers and the strong relationship he has established with Christian McCaffrey to propel the Bay Area side to the Super Bowl.

Purdy‘s Hollywood history is well known. Branded as Mr. Irrelevant, he rose to the top with the 49ers thanks to the double injury in a few months of his two teammates/rivals (Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo).

Since that time, he has taken to the NFL like a duck takes to water. Last season he led his team to the conference finals, where only a serious shoulder injury prevented him from putting up more of a fight against the Philadelphia Eagles.

And what happened this year is already the history of San Francisco, beating even some legendary records. So much so that Reid defended Purdy against critics who maintain that he is not an ‘elite quarterback’.

“He’s a great player,” Reid said to the media. “I specifically remember one of the Saturday afternoons watching him in college and I remember the head coach saying, ‘This guy has changed our program.’ Changing a program, you know, that’s … big.’

“And that’s what he is. He’s doing it in the NFL. Last week he did it with both his legs and his arm. He moved the ball well. He’s a good soccer player. He’s smart. He’s got a great feel for things.”

QUARTERBACK SALARY RANKINGS

1 Joe Burrow (CIN) QB $55,000,000
2 Justin Herbert (LAC) QB $52,500,000
3 Lamar Jackson (BAL) QB $52,000,000
4 Jalen Hurts (PHI) QB $51,000,000
5 Russell Wilson (DEN) QB $48,517,647
6 Kyler Murray (ARI) QB $46,100,000
7 Deshaun Watson (CLE) QB $46,000,000
8 Patrick Mahomes (KC) QB $45,000,000
9 Josh Allen (BUF) QB $43,005,667
10 Daniel Jones (NYG) QB $40,000,000
…83 Brock Purdy (SF) QB $934,25