This stat might end the Patrick Mahomes-Tom Brady debate

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have had many NFL fans feeling déjà vu after Tom Brady and the New England Patriots dominated similarly for so many years.

Kansas City has appeared in five of the last six Super Bowls, a stretch not even New England put together with head coach Bill Belichick (four out of five from 2014-19).

The dueling dynasties have had fans comparing the respective quarterbacks and debating whether Mahomes is on track to dethrone Brady as the greatest of all time.

Mahomes (3-2 in the Super Bowl) clearly has a long way to go to match Brady (7-3) in championship pedigree, but some important stat lines have prompted the discussion to begin with.

However, one in particular may end the debate once and for all — no matter what Mahomes does in the future.

According to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, in 10 Super Bowl appearances Brady left the field in the fourth quarter (meaning at any point) with the lead nine times.

The only exception was Super Bowl LI when New England's final fourth quarter drive ended with the score tied at 28 after Brady led an epic 19-point comeback. The Patriots famously went on to win 34-28 in overtime.

Inversely, both of Mahomes' Super Bowl losses were by a combined score of 40 points. He only left the field in the fourth quarter with the lead when Kansas City won.

This information can really be interpreted two different ways. Either Brady was that dominant and only came up short in the Super Bowl due to clutch opposing game-winning drives, or Mahomes just simply didn't have strong enough defenses to back his skills.

The eye-test seems to suggest the former is more true because Brady already has the 2-0 head-to-head edge over Mahomes in the playoffs (Super Bowl LV included).

But the debate will seemingly forever rage on, no matter how many numbers and figures are tossed out there.