Patrick Mahomes finished Sunday's Super Bowl 26-of-42 for 286 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
That up-and-down performance -- his 78.1 rating was his second-lowest of the season, and yet still enough to win him MVP -- can be divided into two halves.
Those halves are not the first two quarters and the last two, however. It's more of a before and after: before his 2nd-and-15 incompletion to Tyreek Hill with 7:17 left in the second quarter, and after.
Up through that incompletion, Mahomes was 19-of-32 for 181 yards with two interceptions, equating to a truly putrid 49.1 rating. That performance put Kansas City on the brink of defeat: trailing 20-10 with just over seven minutes to play, facing a 3rd-and-15 in their own territory.
But, as NFL Films expertly breaks down below, that incompletion changed everything for Mahomes, for the Kansas City Chiefs and, considering the stakes of the game, the trajectories of both teams and all the participants for years to come.
San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan challenged a 16-yard completion to Tyreek Hill, which correctly overturned the would-be first down. He won the battle, but lost the war.
Given time to huddle, Mahomes suggested Kansas City's knockout pass play: Wasp. You know the result: a 44-yard deep strike to Hill that changed the course of the game.
After losing the challenge, Mahomes was 7-of-9* for 105 yards with two touchdowns. His rating grew by exactly 200 points -- 249.1 -- and, unsurprisingly, Kansas City out-scored San Francisco from that moment on by an emphatic 21-0.
(* Mahomes was actually 7-of-10, but the 10th throw was an arm punt to run out the final five seconds.)
As good as Kansas City was in that moment, NFL Films' breakdown was even better. For instance: Mahomes-to-Hill was the longest air-yards completion Mahomes threw all season.
Aside from the Xs and Os, it's a great exploration of Mahomes' leadership in what will be a career-defining moment for him.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.