As the NFL postseason gets underway this weekend, teams will be preparing for the battles ahead and relying on wisdom from playoffs past for support. The Kansas City Chiefs’ streak of success has been impressive, with extended playoff runs throughout Patrick Mahomes’ NFL career. Now, they seek what would mark a third consecutive trip to the Super Bowl.
The catalyst for the last two Super Bowl appearances has been Mahomes, and this year he seeks redemption after falling short against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. The former Texas Tech star has grown each and every year, especially when it comes to the postseason.
Mahomes was asked about the lessons that he’s learned in his nine career postseason games during his weekly press conference.
“Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing you kind of realize is that at any moment, one play can change, really the entire game. I know it’s like that in the regular season,” Mahomes told reporters. “but in the playoffs, it goes to a different level. You know that one play can end your season or keep it going. You try to limit your mistakes as much as possible, knowing that it’s going to be a battle to the very end every single playoff game.”
Mahomes shared more details about a specific moment from a postseason game that changed his perspective on the difference from the regular season. He referenced the AFC wild-card loss to the Tennessee Titans in 2018 as he served as the backup to Alex Smith in his rookie season.
“I think you look back at that Tennessee game my first year,” Mahomes said. “There were little plays here and there. The touchdown that (Marcus) Mariota threw that got slapped down, and he ended up catching it for a touchdown, the tackle by Derrick Johnson early in the game that was a fumble and ended up saying the forward progress was stopped. Those little plays changed the outcome of the game. You know that those little things matter. You have to make sure you really focus on the details, do what you can in order to find a way to win a game.”
The Chiefs would fall 22-21 in the game, but they would see an increase in success following that year as Mahomes would take over for Smith. Even in a game that he didn’t play in, Mahomes was taking notice of all the little things that could help him become more successful in postseason play. Those lessons seem to have made a meaningful impact and could be the difference when facing a less experienced team.