The Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes are used to being in the playoffs competing in the AFC Divisional Round.
Mahomes is gearing up for his sixth straight divisional-round playoff game, but unlike the previous five, this second-round contest will not be played at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs will head to New York to take on the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s AFC divisional round playoff game at Highmark Stadium, marking the first time Mahomes will play a postseason game on the road.
Although head coach Andy Reid said Patrick Mahomes doesn’t “listen to much of that stuff,” Mahomes said he’s heard the noise heading into Sunday, according to USA Today.
“It is what it is,” Mahomes said matter-of-factly on Wednesday. “Obviously I’ve been really lucky to play a lot of games at home at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s just everything has fell that way.”
The Kansas City Chiefs are underdogs on the road Sunday, but don’t count them out. Mahomes said he’s “excited” to play in Buffalo, which he described as “one of the best environments in football.” The two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL MVP said it will be business as usual, no matter the location.
“I go out every game with the same mindset and that’s to go out there and win,” Mahomes said. “It’s going to be a hostile environment and we’re playing a great football team that’s won (six) games in a row. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us but our mindset is we’re going to prepare ourselves this week to go out there to win the football game, and that never changes.”
While the environment in Buffalo is sure to be hostile, with more than 4000 fans lining up to help shovel the stadium and have it clear for the game, Mahomes is used to playing in brutally cold conditions.
Of the 15 postseason games that Mahomes has played in his career, 12 have been at Arrowhead Stadium. The other three games were Super Bowl appearances – Super Bowl 54, Super Bowl 55 and Super Bowl 57 – all of which took place at neutral sites.
The Chiefs’ last road playoff game was on Jan. 16, 2016 when they lost to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech with the 10th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. He took over as the starter in 2018. The rest is history.
In an interview aired on Sunday ahead of tonight’s matchup between the Chiefs and Bills, Mahomes was asked if he would rather be the hero at home or the villain on the road.
“I kind of like to be the villain on the road,” Mahomes responded.
Here are the most recent results of Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.
2018-19: No. 1 seed – Lost AFC title game vs. New England Patriots
2019-20: No. 2 seed – Won Super Bowl 54 vs. San Francisco 49ers
2020-21: No. 1 seed – Lost Super Bowl 55 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2021-22: No. 2 seed – Lost AFC title game vs. Cincinnati Bengals
2022-23: No. 1 seed – Won Super Bowl 57 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
As of late, the Kansas City Chiefs have had the edge on Buffalo, but today is a whole new experience.
