It might be a good thing that Patrick Mahomes didn't make it to the Super Bowl in 2021, because if the Chiefs had played the Rams in Super Bowl LVI, Mahomes would have been facing a defense that was made up of his worst nightmares.
The Chiefs quarterback was recently asked to rank the three toughest defenders he's played against in the NFL and those three defenders ended up having one major thing in common: They all played for the 2021 Rams.
So who are the three toughest defensive players that Mahomes has faced in his six-year career?
"In my career? Aaron Donald is one. That's out of the gate," Mahomes told Complex in a recent interview. "Jalen Ramsey, especially the last few years, has always been a dog, and Von Miller, I'm glad he's not in my division anymore."
If the Chiefs had beaten the Bengals in the 2021 AFC title game, then Mahomes would have faced all three players in Super Bowl LVI, but that didn't happen. However, Mahomes has faced each player at least twice.
The quarterback's first meeting with Donald came back in 2018 when the Rams beat the Chiefs 54-51 in a game that's still regarded as one of the wildest ones in NFL history. Although Mahomes threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns, he also threw three interceptions. Mahomes was also sacked three times with two of those coming from Donald.
Mahomes has faced Donald twice in his career. The second meeting came last season in a game where Mahomes led the Chiefs to a 26-10 win despite facing both Donald and Ramsey. During that game, Mahomes threw for 320 yards, but he also only threw one touchdown pass.
Last season's game marked Mahomes' second meeting against Ramsey. The Chiefs QB also faced him in 2018 when the cornerback was in Jacksonville. Although the Chiefs got the best of the Jaguars in that game (30-14), Mahomes finished with two interceptions and zero touchdown passes (A big reason the Chiefs won is because Blake Bortles threw four interceptions). Donald is 1-1 against Mahomes while Ramsey is 0-2.
As for Miller, he has 3.5 career sacks in four career games against Mahomes. Miller's biggest game against the Chiefs QB actually came last season. Miller racked up two sacks for the Bills during a 24-20 win over the Chiefs in Week 5.
Mahomes has definitely struggled against all three guys, which isn't great news for him this year, considering he'll be facing two of them. Mahomes will see Ramsey in Week 9 when the Chiefs play the Dolphins in Germany. The Chiefs QB will then see Miller in Week 14 when Kansas City hosts Buffalo.
