KANSAS CITY, MON – Ask any coach or player in the NFL and they will tell you with certainty that the pace of the game will pick up when the playoffs arrive. On the field there is no more time to think; Decisions are more often made by instincts in the moment than carefully crafted game plans.
Perhaps that’s why Patrick Mahomes thrives in the postseason.
Whether it’s his obsession with no-look passes, crazy side-arm slings, or the myriad other ways the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback sparks creativity on the field, there’s arguably no better player in the NFL if there is is about playing sandlot football. His ability to make something out of nothing has teammates and opponents alike shaking their heads.
“My family or friends are like, ‘Oh my God, how is Patrick Mahomes?’ And I think, “He’s just a special person,” said Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, whose career was rejuvenated in his first season with him.
“It’s just like playing Madden when there was Michael Vick, who can just run all over the field and then throw it 80 yards down the field,” explained Smith-Schuster. “It’s kind of like that, but for more, it’s ILR — in real life.”
What has become known in Kansas City simply as the Mahomes Magic seems to shine brightest this time of year, and the results are nothing short of incredible: He’s never failed to make the AFC championship game in four years as a starter, making it twice Super Bowl and once won the MVP award while ending the franchise’s 50-year title drought.
He will look to go 5-0 up against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Saturday night’s divisional round.
“I think all the guys understood whenever they signed with this team that we want to win the Super Bowl. And if we don’t do that, we feel like it’s not where we should be,” Mahomes said. “But you can’t look ahead. We have a great team playing great football this week. So how can we train today to be better at the end of the week? And I think you have to have that mindset – and I think the guys have it – and I think we’re in a good place.
Rarely are the Chiefs, winners of the last seven AFC West titles, in a bad position with Mahomes on the field. Overall, he’s 8-3 in the postseason. He’s averaging 307 yards per game, a number boosted by a 404-yard streak in last year’s wildcard win over the Steelers. And he’s thrown 28 touchdown passes against seven interceptions and added five TD runs, including one in last year’s divisional round win over the Bills.
That night at Arrowhead Stadium perhaps best encapsulated Mahomes in the playoffs.
The Chiefs were down 29-26 with less than 2 minutes to go when he threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill to regain the lead. And as the Bills raced the other way and scored with 13 seconds left, Mahomes responded with two long finishes on Hill and Travis Kelce to set up Harrison Butker’s equalizer after time was up.
In overtime, Mahomes completed all six of his passes, the last of which was the winning TD throw to Kelce in a 42-36 win.
“Pat is a very competitive person,” said Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, “and of course he’s also a great football player. He will do whatever it takes to make sure he can help us succeed.”
That means working tirelessly at your craft, and the results are plentiful: Mahomes broke his own franchise record this season with 5,250 yards, 41 touchdown passes and four touchdown runs as the league leader.
“Having been able to see him through his rookie year to his current position is so advanced,” said quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy, who spent time as the Bears head coach before returning to Kansas City this season.
“Sometimes the hardest part for some quarterbacks is to call a game. It’s like second nature to him. It’s very simple,” said Nagy. “It wasn’t like that as a rookie. Sometimes we take that for granted because we have some unique formations, movement changes, moves, etc. Well, that’s just the beginning of the game. You have to get up and do everything else on the line of scrimmage, then you have to make a play by the way.”
Mahomes has been making them for years. And make them look easy.
Mostly.
When he last took the field in the playoffs against the Bengals in last year’s AFC Championship, he put on perhaps the worst performance of his career. Mahomes still threw for 275 and three touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions, and they gave Cincinnati a chance to bounce back from a 21-3 deficit to a 27-24 win in overtime.
It’s a loss that has fueled Mahomes through the offseason, regular season and into this year’s postseason.
“You build on that all season,” he said. “The regular season goes on week in and week out but you want to be here in the playoffs and you know you’re going to play the best football teams in the league and you want to do that as a competitor. That’s why I’m looking forward to playing against a great football team at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s always a good time.”
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