Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has never played in a road playoff game in his seven seasons in the NFL… Until now. When the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Divisional matchup will be the reining Super Bowl MVP’s first road playoff game.
During his weekly presser on Wednesday, Mahomes told reporters he’s ready to head to Orchard Park and take on the Bills. The Divisional game will be the first time since 2020 that the Chiefs play against the Bills at Highmark Stadium. But it’ll be the first time in front of Bills Mafia.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of games at home at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium,” Mahomes acknowledged. “Everything’s just fallen that way, but now we get the great opportunity to go on the road and play in a hostile environment – one that I haven’t been able to play with fans in the stands. Even though I know it’s going to be hostile and there are going to be people talking trash and everything like that, 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 is play in the best environments and see what it’s like.”
Kansas City enters this game as a 3.5-point underdog to the Bills. Mahomes is 7-1-1 against the spread in games where he isn’t the favorite. But the two-time league MVP said he has the same mindset before every game, regardless if he’s favored or not.
“I go into every game with the same mindset and that’s to go out there and win,” he said. “We understand that it’s going to be a great challenge. We understand that it’s going to be a hostile environment, and we’re playing a great football team that’s won seven games in a row, I think – whatever it is. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us, but our mindset is that we’re going to prepare ourselves throughout this week to go out there and win a football game, and that never changes,” he explained.
Since 2020, the Chiefs and Bills have gone head-to-head six times (four in the regular season and twice in the playoffs), with both teams going 3-3 in those games. Buffalo is 3-1 against Kansas City in the regular season. The Chiefs are 2-0 against the Bills in postseason play, and their lone regular-season victory occurred while on the road.
As the Chiefs embark on what will likely be another memorable battle, they’ll aim to remain undefeated against them in the playoffs.
“The Bills are a great challenge. I think everybody understands that. They’ve gotten my number a lot of times. We’ve been lucky enough to get them in the playoffs, but they beat us earlier this year, so we understand that we will have to play our best football to win the game, especially at their place,” Mahomes explained. “But it’s not about ending someone’s season for us, it’s about just advancing. Trying to find a way to survive and advance and get to the next round. Whatever that takes this weekend, we’re going to try to do and try to go out there and win a football game.”
Sunday will be the first road playoff matchup the Chiefs will play since the 2015 season when Kansas City squared off against the New England Patriots in the Divisional round. The Chiefs have not won a road postseason game since the 2015 Wildcard matchup against the Houston Texans, which Kansas City won handily, 30-0.
