I don't want to tell anyone how to think, but if you're bored or resentful of the Kansas City Chiefs' greatness, you're wrong. Or, you've allowed social media and group-think to misinform you.
The Chiefs' run is led by a quarterback whose greatness is so apparent that its reminiscent of legends from decades past who also happened to wear red: Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
With Mahomes at the helm, the Chiefs are already the first team in NFL history to reach three consecutive Super Bowls, and will play the Philadelphia Eagles for the right to complete -- or merely continue? -- the greatest playoff run in league history.
All told, Mahomes is 16-3 in the playoffs as a starter, and will take a 9-game playoff win streak with him to New Orleans. A Super Bowl victory would, obviously, set the record for most consecutive Super Bowl victories, it would also tie the NFL record for the longest playoff win streak, period, at 10 games.
But all those numbers really just scratch the surface.
When the game is on the line, Mahomes becomes Tiger on Sunday.
In diving into Mahomes's playoff history, I found that the number was actually 11-for-11.
1. 2019 AFC Championship vs. New England
Situation: Patriots 17, Chiefs 14. 7:55 to play. KC takes over at the New England 23.
Result: 2 plays, 23 yards, touchdown
Summary: Assuming possession after an interception, Mahomes's 7-yard completion was challenged and overturned by future ACC head coach Bill Belichick, but it didn't matter. His next pass was a 23-yard scoring strike to Damien Williams.
2. 2019 AFC Championship vs. New England
Situation: Patriots 24, Chiefs 21. 3:26 remaining. KC takes over at its own 32.
Result: 5 plays, 68 yards, touchdown
Summary: In what we would now recognize as foreshadowing, the Chiefs got a tremendously lucky break here: a Travis Kelce fumble, recovered by New England, was overturned by a defensive holding penalty. A pass interference penalty moved the ball into New England territory, and a 38-yard catch-and-run by Sammy Watkins set up a 2-yard Williams touchdown plunge.
3. 2019 AFC Championship vs. New England
Situation: Patriots 31, Chiefs 28. 0:39 to play. KC takes over at its own 31.
Result: 4 plays, 48 yards, field goal
Summary: Mahomes hit running back Spencer Ware for 21 yards, then Demarcus Robinson for 27 (their only catches of the game) to put the ball at the New England 21 with 11 seconds to play. Kansas City took a shot to the end zone to win the game, but no one was open, and with timeouts, Mahomes threw the ball away when a game-winning opportunity never materialized. Mahomes took the game to overtime but, thanks to the NFL's awful rules at the time, he never got a third chance to extend or win the game.
Key stats: Mahomes was 4-of-8 for 109 yards and a touchdown from the 7:55 mark of the fourth quarter on.
4. 2020 Super Bowl vs. San Francisco
Situation: 49ers 20, Chiefs 17. 5:10 to play. KC takes over at its own 35.
Result: 7 plays, 65 yards, touchdown
Summary: To get to this point, Mahomes had already hit arguably the most important pass of his career: 44 yards to Tyreek Hill on 3rd-and-15. Kansas City loses the game if Mahomes doesn't hit that pass. Now trailing by three, Mahomes accounted for all 65 yards on the drive, going 5-of-5 through the air, including a 38-yard strike to Watkins and a 5-yard score to Williams.
Key stats: In the fourth quarter, Mahomes was 8-of-11 for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing twice for 15 yards.
5. 2022 AFC Divisional vs. Buffalo
Situation: Bills 29, Chiefs 26. 1:54 to play. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 5 plays, 75 yards, touchdown
Summary: Mahomes hits Tyreek Hill for 64 yards, in which he iconicly (is that a word?) flashed the peace sign at the 15-yard line with three Bills at his heels and a fourth ahead of him with an angle.
6. 2022 AFC Divisional vs. Buffalo
Situation: Bills 36, Chiefs 33. 0:13 remaining. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 3 plays, 44 yards, field goal
Summary: The degree of difficulty here was just stupid high. Buffalo simply needed to force one incompletion and/or short pass, but Mahomes was simply undeniable. He found Hill for 19 yards and Kelce for 25 -- how?!!?? -- to set up a 49-yard Harrison Butker field goal to force overtime. Kansas City got the ball to start overtime and surgically moved 75 yards in eight plays to win the game before Josh Allen had a chance to take the field. From the 1:54 mark onward, Mahomes went 10-of-13 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
Key stats: In the final 1:54 to plus overtime, Mahomes was 10-of-13 for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
7. 2022 AFC Championship vs. Cincinnati
Situation: Bengals 24, Chiefs 21. 6:04 remaining. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 14 plays, 49 yards, field goal
Summary: Kansas City executed its 4-minute offense to perfection, openings its drive with completions of five, eight and five yards and reaching the Cincinnati 15 at the 2-minute warning, but the drive stalled from there. Mahomes was sacked on consecutive plays after reaching the 4-yard line and fumbled on the second sack, which the Chiefs recovered.
Key stats: Mahomes was 5-of-5 for 38 yards while rushing twice for eight yards on the game-tying drive, but went 0-of-3 with an interception to open overtime.
8. 2024 Super Bowl vs. San Francisco
Situation: 49ers 16, Chiefs 13. 11:22 remaining. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 12 plays, 69 yards, field goal
9. 2024 Super Bowl vs. San Francisco
Situation: 49ers 19, Chiefs 16. 1:53 remaining. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 11 plays, 64 yards, field goal
10. 2024 Super Bowl vs. San Francisco
Situation: 49ers 22, Chiefs 19. Overtime. KC takes over at its own 25.
Result: 13 plays, 75 yards, touchdown
Summary: Kansas City scored six points in its first nine possessions -- two turnovers, four 3-and-outs, and one 4-and-out -- and then scored 19 points over its final four with no punts. Mahomes's 3-yard toss to Mecole Hardman to win the game in overtime will live in NFL lore forever, but don't forget Mahomes's 8-yard 4th-and-1 run that preceded it.
Key stats: Mahomes was 16-of-22 for 151 yards and a touchdown while rushing four times for 33 yards from the fourth quarter on.
11. 2025 AFC Championship vs. Buffalo
Situation: Bills 22, Chiefs 21. 12:55 to play. KC takes over at its own 41.
Result: 5 plays, 59 yards, touchdown
Summary: Kansas City's worst play on this possession was a 6-yard Kareem Hunt rush to set up a 1st-and-goal, which Mahomes immediately converted on a 10-yard keeper.
Key stats: In the fourth quarter, excluding his end-of-game kneel-downs, Mahomes was 5-of-7 for 83 yards while rushing twice for 17 yards and a score. Kansas City's three fourth-quarter drives took the lead, re-gained the lead, and then ran out the clock.
The construct of the statistic eliminates Mahomes's one true late-game playoff failure -- the interception in the 2022 AFC Championship vs. Cincinnati -- but it also obscures the numerous other times he's come through in the clutch when the game is merely tied or Kansas City has a close lead. Like the drives to bet Cincinnati and Philadelphia on Harrison Butker field goals with under 10 seconds remaining in the 2023 playoffs, both of which took place in games there merely tied. Or the touchdown drive to come from behind and beat Buffalo last season, most of which occurred in the third quarter. Or the 7-play drive that successfully killed off the final 1:54 on Sunday night.
Turns out there are a lot of those, too.
Sure, feel free to pretend your bored by a fifth Chiefs Super Bowl in seven years, and root for the Eagles all you want. But if Philadelphia is trying to protect a 1-score lead in the waning moments of Super Bowl LIX and Patrick Mahomes steps on the field trying to secure the first 3-peat in Super Bowl history, don't tell me you won't be compelled.