When Were They Drafted?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was drafted at the end of the 2nd round in 2014 by the New England Patriots and was seen as a potential long-term replacement for the ageing Tom Brady. As Brady decided he wanted to play into his 40s, Jimmy G sought a trade and the 49ers duly obliged by trading a 2nd round pick to get their new franchise quarterback. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was taken with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2017 draft and sat behind then starting quarterback Alex Smith for his rookie season before taking the reins for the 2018 season.

How Have Their Careers Compared To Date?

Jimmy Garoppolo currently holds the record for the best winning percentage by any active quarterback in the NFL, having lost only 5 of his 28 NFL starts if you combine regular season and post-season games. 2019 was the first season in which Jimmy G was able to complete all 16 regular season games, having sat behind Tom Brady on the Patriots for 3 years and then tearing his ACL which caused him to miss a full season in 2018. On his return from injury, Jimmy Garoppolo led the San Francisco 49ers to a 13-3 season and threw for 27 touchdowns. In Patrick Mahomes' first year as the starter in Kansas City, he was on an absolute tear and set out to break records almost every week. Finishing the year with 5097 passing yards and 50 touchdowns, Patrick Mahomes set records including youngest player to throw 6 touchdowns in a game and fastest player to reach the 3000, 4000 & 5000 passing yards thresholds. 2019 saw Patrick Mahomes return more to normality as he suffered a dislocated knee and finished the season with a little over 4000 passing yards and led Kansas City to 6 straight wins to finish the season strong with a 12-4 record. Patrick Mahomes

How Did They Get To The Superbowl?

In this year's playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers haven't trailed for even 1 second, and have outscored their opponents by 17 points each time. Jimmy Garoppolo hasn't lit up the stat sheets but that's because he hasn't had to. The main thing that Garoppolo has done is that he's not made any mistakes that would cost his team. One interception over those two games was good enough for Garoppolo and the 49ers to not be seriously tested, thanks in large part to Garoppolo's understanding that his team's defense is elite. It's been a totally different story for Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs so far. After being behind by 24 points against the Houston Texans and then down by 10 points in the first half against the Tennessee Titans, Mahomes led the Chiefs to big wins in both of those contests. Nine touchdowns in those two games from Patrick Mahomes has shown that he has recaptured his 2018 form. No matter how far behind the Chiefs get, there is belief that Patrick Mahomes can bring his team back due to his ability to score touchdowns from literally anywhere on the field.

So Who's Going To Win?

For decades it has been said that 'defense wins championships' but yet almost all the greatest quarterbacks of all time have won superbowls. Jimmy Garoppolo certainly plays the style of quarterback that is more traditionally linked with winning playoff football games. His ability to not turn the ball over and rely on the strength of his running backs and defense to put the game over the line is the way that superbowl teams have been built from the early days right through to recent superbowls. However the more modern opinion is that with the game on the line, you want to have a quarterback who you trust to score the touchdown at the critical moment. Patrick Mahomes looks like the quarterback most likely to take control of the game and throw crucial touchdowns, however Jimmy Garoppolo has led his team to score touchdowns which won his team the game in the fourth quarter on four separate occasions this season.

Patrick Mahomes is the more explosive player and his receivers have frightening speed which makes them hard to recover. However Jimmy Garoppolo has been the expert at finding a way for his team to win so far in his career, so it's hard to count him out. We won't have to wait long to see which one of these young quarterbacks will get to win a Super Bowl title though, as they go head to head in the Superbowl this Sunday!

Jimmy Garropollo

How to watch Super Bowl 54?

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