Super Mahomes, Hurricanes dazzle and a Curry homecoming in the sports moments of the week

It's not too early to start thinking about Patrick Mahomes' place among the all-time greats in every sport. Plus, Julius Peppers joins an exclusive club, J.J. Watt gets roasted and more!

Posted 9:16 p.m. Feb 13 — Updated 12:23 a.m. Feb 14

Clark Gerber

, WRAL Sports contributor

The internet is a big place. Unless you're 100% plugged in all the time (and let's be clear, that is NOT recommended), you're going to miss some stuff.

Let us do that work. You can be a well-adjusted human being and still catch all the best sports moments of the week, with a quick review ...

Mahomes wills Chiefs to Super Bowl title (again)

The Super Bowl happened on Sunday. Did you hear about that?

Chances are yes, you did, because this year's "Big Game" was the most watched (and most gambled on) in history.

Viewers were treated to a thrilling finish as Patrick Mahomes led a flawless touchdown drive in overtime, lifting the Chiefs to a 25-22 victory.

(The K.C. radio call of the winning touchdown was good, but San Francisco's dejected version was even better. Especially if you wait for the loud "Dang it!" at the 0:28 mark.)

It's Kansas City's third title in five seasons with Mahomes at quarterback. They are the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.

Mahomes already ranks third all-time in career postseason wins. He is 9-2 in the playoffs when trailing by a touchdown or more. He's a three-time Super Bowl MVP. And he's only 28 years old.

The comparisons to Tom Brady are obvious and appropriate. Mahomes has better stats in every category at this stage in his career. If Mahomes can keep this pace, he would win a staggering 11 Super Bowls if he can play as long as Brady did, which I don't think is out of the question.

The more interesting discussion, I think, is comparing Mahomes to another G.O.A.T. -- Michael Jordan.

Both are (were) dazzling for even the most casual fan to watch. Both with a flair for the dramatics and an out-sized cultural impact that influences how younger generations play the game.

The same can't be said in quite the same way about Brady.

Now Mahomes is chasing the three-peat, just like MJ did in his hay-day. It's never been done before in the NFL, mostly because the rules dictate that it should be impossible.

But if there's one player out there that can overcome those odds, it's definitely Patrick Mahomes. He'll be back again next year.

Julius Peppers' call to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Speaking of football greatness, few defensive players have combined sheer impact with production quite like Julius Peppers.

Peppers played 17 years in the NFL, 10 of them for the Panthers in his home state of North Carolina.

On Thursday, he officially became a first-ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- just the sixth defensive end ever to receive that honor.

Fellow legendary pass rusher Bruce Smith delivered the news and welcomed Peppers to the exclusive first-ballot club.

Julius Peppers is a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All Pro. He racked up 159.5 sacks in his career (fourth most all time) along with 52 forced fumbles (second most).

Peppers will be joined by Devin Hester, Patrick Willis, Andre Johnson, Dwight Freeney, Steve McMichael and Randy Gradishar in the 2024 class.

A well-deserved honor for one of the all-time greats. See you in Canton, Pep!

Flashes of brilliance lift Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are tightening their grip on a sixth straight playoff berth thanks to some top-notch performances this week.

Martin Necas made some history Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche, recording his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

But this wasn't just any hat trick. Necas' effort was a natural hat trick, meaning he scored three in a row without interruption ... and all of them in the first period to boot!

The game-opening "natty hatty" was just the second in Hurricanes/ Whalers franchise history. The only other player to accomplish it was Cory Stillman back in 2007.

On Saturday, it was brilliance in the net on "Whalers night." Pyotr Kochetkov posted a 34-save shutout to beat the division rival Devils 1-0 in overtime.

Kochetkov was briefly pulled during the Colorado win after letting in a very soft goal, but after that, he's been sparkling.

The 24-year old now has six career shutouts in only 53 games. For reference, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark has seven career shutouts in *232* games. So there's that.

The game-winning goal in Saturday's game shouldn't go unnoticed as Sebastian Aho batted a rebound out of the air to seal it.

The team tried to mob Kochetkov after the celebratory Storm Surge, but he retreated to the penalty box instead!

Goalies, man.

Duke tops UNC in OT thriller

It doesn't have to be men's hoops to enjoy a Duke-Carolina classic.

The Duke women's team fought their way to an epic comeback win over the hated Tar Heels on Sunday, 68-60 in overtime.

UNC seemed to be in control most of the game and built a commanding 14-point lead, but the Blue Devils leaned on their defense to get back in it.

Duke has held 22 out of their 23 opponents below their scoring average this season, and that trend continued as they forced Carolina into 2/15 shooting and five turnovers in the fourth quarter.

A career night from Delaney Thomas also helped. The freshman posted a team-high 19 points on 8/10 shooting off the bench as the Devils ended the game on a 34-14 run.

Kara Lawson's bunch is starting to get hot at the right time. Duke has won 9 straight at home and 3 in-a-row overall as they look to lock down an at-large bid in the big dance.

(As it happens, coach Lawson was also selected Tuesday as an assistant coach for the USA women's basketball team at the Paris Olympics this summer. A great honor to cap off a great week.)

Curry comes home to Charlotte

There hasn't been a lot of good news around the Charlotte Hornets recently. They're a bad basketball team with a bottom four record in the NBA, ready to rebuild again for the umpteenth time in franchise history.

But even as the team was selling off Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and P.J. Washington at the trade deadline this week, they did manage to find a silver lining.

They traded for Seth Curry.

Curry, of course, is Stephen Curry's younger brother. He grew up in Charlotte as the son of former Hornets sharp-shooter Dell Curry, who is now the color analyst for the team's broadcasts.

Seth played three years at Duke and went undrafted in 2013, but has since made a nice career for himself. The Hornets are his eighth NBA stop, and he's made himself right at home.

Seth is 2-0 so far with his hometown squad and lit up the Indiana Pacers for 18 points off the bench on Monday night.

In truth, this probably won't be a long-term marriage since Seth is set to turn 34 in August and has no guarantees on his contract for next season.

But who cares about that? This is fun and the Hornets usually aren't. Enjoy the moment and welcome home, Seth!

Boom! Roasted!

If you happened to be watching the NFL Honors show on Thursday night, you bore witness to the Carolina Panthers catching an all-time stray from host Keegan-Michael Key.

During his opening monologue, the comedian joked (at the 3:21 mark) that "Taylor Swift is in Tokyo right now. The only people farther from the Super Bowl are the Carolina Panthers."

Ouch.

Luckily for the Panthers, there was a new target of ridicule by Sunday... namely JJ Watt's hair.

The former Defensive Player of the Year joined CBS Sports as an analyst this year, and decided the Super Bowl would be a great time to try out a new look up top.

It did not go well for him.

Watt does deserve major props, however, for having a sense of humor and diffusing the situation as much as he could.

Just maybe go a little bit lighter on the pomade next season, huh buddy?

TAYLOR SWIFT WATCH

This is it!

We've reached the end of the NFL season and therefore the end of Taylor Swift watch ... I think ... unless she and Travis get engaged ... or do something really cute on her upcoming tour ...

Ok, maybe it's not the end of the Taylor Swift watch because these two are a content machine. Time will tell, I guess.

As expected, this week was all about "Swelce," although Super Bowl Sunday didn't start out too well for America's First Couple.

Travis, frustrated by being on the bench during a first half turnover, was caught on camera screaming at head coach Andy Reid and became a trending internet meme. (Both Reid and Kelce downplayed the exchange after the game.)

Vibes were much better after the win was secured.

Travis serenaded Chiefs fans with a positively unhinged chorus of "Viva Las Vegas," then caught up with Taylor for quite possibly the most anticipated postgame embrace of all-time.

The couple partied late into the night and even made their way on to Taylor's official TikTok feed. The clip features Travis for the first time on any of Taylor's social media accounts, as well as her parents who look hilariously out of place at the nightclub celebration.

Heck of a season for these two crazy kids. Let's hope everything goes well in the offseason.

We'll see you next week.