Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has no illusions about his team’s difficulties when they play the Buffalo Bills in the Division Round on Sunday. Mahomes has played in high-pressure playoff games every year he’s been a starter in the league.
But Mahomes has always played those games in Kansas City or a neutral site for the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs will play their first road game in the playoffs since the 2015 season when they traveled to play the New England Patriots. When that game was played, Mahomes had just finished his first season as the full-time starter at Texas Tech.
Much was made in the media about Mahomes’ first road playoff game when the Chiefs learned their schedule for the Divisional Round following the Bills’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday. Mahomes said this week he was looking forward to going to Buffalo to play in the playoffs.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a “challenge” in Buffalo
According to a transcript of Mahomes’ comments by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, Mahomes said the Bills have one of the best environments in football due to their aggressive fan base. Mahomes said he expected the Bills to give him and the Chiefs a major challenge on Sunday:
Even though I know it’s going to be hostile and there are going to be people talking trash, I’m excited for it because it’s one of the best environments in football, and you want to do that when you grow up watching these games, play in the best environment and see what it’s like.”
“I go into every game with the same mindset, and that’s to go out there and win. We understand it’s going to be a great challenge, we understand it’s going to be a hostile environment, and we’re playing a great football team,” Mahomes said. “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.”
Patrick Mahomes could need two road playoff wins back-to-back
One thing that will change for Mahomes if the Chiefs win is the perception that he’s always had it easy playing at home in the playoffs. For whatever reason, some fans think it’s a knock on a quarterback if they’ve won too many games in the regular season to be a low seed in the playoffs.
Mahomes could have to win on the road twice in January to make the Super Bowl this postseason. Should the Chiefs win Sunday and the AFC’s top seed, the Baltimore Ravens, take care of business against the Houston Texans Saturday, Mahomes and the Chiefs would travel to Baltimore for the AFC Championship.
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