Two hours before the AFC championship kicked off late Sunday, the private coach behind the otherworldly quarterback stared out at parking lots stuffed with Kansas City Chiefs fans. Jeff Christensen stood on the fourth floor, near the suite entrances at GEHA Field. Smoke wafted from so many barbecue grills below. Breath floated from so many mouths.
Christensen simply shook his head—at the setting, this run, Kansas City now on the verge of the first three-peat in the Super Bowl era, all powered by his client, their quarterback. “You know what no one’s talking about?” he says. “I don’t want to be a jinx here … but in his last 23 games, Pat is 22–1.”
He’s presented with a series of other story lines—that Kansas City has never been healthier for a Mahomes playoff run; that its offense, reconfigured on the fly, is now more talented than any Chiefs unit since Tyreek Hill departed in 2022; and that, in this season, in comparison to all other recent seasons, the Chiefs didn’t wait until January to confront their greatest obstacles. This season, they dealt with those far earlier, instead.
Christensen affirmed all plot points. None mattered beyond the statistic he first laid out. Patrick Mahomes is inevitable. He’s death (to the Super Bowl dreams of other AFC franchises). He’s taxes (billed to every defense that tries to stop him, especially this time of year). In a league designed to make sustained success as difficult as possible, if not impossible, Mahomes is also unfazed, unflappable, and, against the Buffalo Bills in the postseason, still undefeated even after Sunday night.
The quarterback and his whisperer last met on Christensen’s birthday, Jan. 8, and the following day. Do not mistake that for any sort of necessary tune-up—they’d done that months earlier, after an uneven season remained that way into November. Christensen turned 65 that day. When Mahomes learned of this birthday training session, he asked Christensen if they should reschedule. The response: Hell no! This marked the best celebration Christensen could ever dream up.
“He probably looks at me like a quasi-grandpa right now,” Christensen says. “It’s like we’re just playing catch in the backyard.”
He adds, unnecessarily, the real present. Mahomes, his coach says, “threw the ball incredibly well.” He smiles when he says that, while facing away from the field, knowing that much of the world will focus on it, Mahomes, Josh Allen and another chapter in this budding Chiefs-Bills rivalry soon enough.
He laughs again, this one more knowing, laden with significance he will not say. “He’s 22–1, right?” Christensen says. “What am I gonna say?”
The Kingdom, as the Chiefs’ fan base is collectively known, all but expect an appearance in this game. Mahomes made that so, made the conference finale—and the game that follows—into a birthright for a franchise once defined by Buzzard’s Luck, as its founder called half-a-century of odd-yet-consistent misfortune.
That tracks, because they’re simply taking their cues from the quarterback clad in that No. 15 jersey. Mahomes knew, too. After Buffalo blemished Kansas City’s undefeated record in November, winning a Week 11 game and positioning this year as the year they’d top Mahomes in the postseason, he found Allen near midfield. They embraced.
As Mahomes pulled in close, television cameras picked up what he said to Allen.
“We’ll do it again.”
Indeed. Regular-season defeat notwithstanding, Kansas City held a 3–0 playoff record in the Mahomes era against Buffalo. For all the hand-wringing over a season of long offensive drives and ugly victories, the Chiefs had actually rounded into form.
Last season’s nadir came on Christmas Day, in a loss to the lowly Las Vegas Raiders. These Chiefs had a better record, but not a signature moment, until Christmas Day this year, when, with only four days to prepare, they flew to Pittsburgh and stomped the Steelers. Kansas City entered this postseason with a healthy Mahomes, unlike two years ago, with a solidifying roster, unlike last year, and with … No. 15 at quarterback.
Oddsmakers favored Kansas City, but not by much (-1.5); by less, in fact, than what’s typically allotted for home-field advantage. The spread meant Vegas saw Kansas City as a slight underdog, but one that would host. Most pundits picked the Bills to win.
Andy Reid, the Chiefs’ coach, presented his team with the simplest message before the conference championship after the most complicated season.
“Be yourselves,” he told them. “Go play.”
Much of America seemed fatigued by Kansas City. Or, more specifically, by the Chiefs’ success since the 2018 season. One study, conducted by YouGov and published by Sportico, found that Mahomes still ranked among the country’s most popular football players, as did his longtime teammate, tight end Travis Kelce. But with debates over whether officials protected Mahomes more than other players, three triumphs in the past four seasons, poll numbers for the team, its quarterback and its tight end all continued to drop.
Consider such history worthy of any hatred sparked by winning—and winning—and going full New England Patriots under Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Mahomes has started at quarterback for seven seasons in Kansas City. The Chiefs have made the conference finale seven times. (If they advance again next year, they’ll tie those Patriots, who did the same from 2011 to ’18.)
Perhaps evidence of this was obvious in the parking lots at Arrowhead three hours before kickoff. As in previous years, the Kingdom seemed happy and cold. But there wasn’t the elation that often comes with reaching the conference championship. This game, because of Mahomes and this run, is no longer the game that matters—it matters only in advancing to the game that does.
As a stealth bomber flew overhead during introductions, though, cameras panned to Mahomes. He was admiring it.
Buffalo, consistent and formidable all season, did the opposite Sunday. Early on, at least. The Bills took possession first, Allen attempted two throws and both were nearly intercepted.
More miscues from the Bills. Illegal formation. No first downs until midway through the first quarter. Allen, fumbling a shotgun snap, then, while scrambling to retrieve the ball, getting crunched by mammoth defensive tackle Chris Jones.
Were the Chiefs going to win via the only method no one expected—blowout?
As he surveyed the pregame festivities hours earlier, Christensen had sounded one warning. This was critical. Kansas City couldn’t turn the ball over. Do that and … they’d win. Fail to do that and … who knew?
That’s why he’d flown up for a brief session with Mahomes in late October. The QB’s interception tally was misleading, for myriad reasons (injuries, bad luck, dropped or tipped passes)—he had 11 after the Bills picked him off, twice. He needed no more than a quick mechanical tune-up, a conversation between the two of them and some reminders of bedrocks that can be lost track of amid any one season.
Mahomes hadn’t thrown an interception since that Bills game. He welcomed a third child into his growing brood on Jan. 12. Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, named her Golden Raye. His grandfather—on his mom’s side—was back in hospice. His ankle, technically, was injured. But the Chiefs considered the pain no more than mild.
He had gone 262 consecutive throws without an interception, the longest active streak of any quarterback left on Sunday morning. The Chiefs hadn’t turned the ball over in their previous eight games.
And, then, on only the second offensive possession Sunday, Mahomes tried to scramble away from pressure and … fumbled. Nothing to worry about there, as an offsides penalty against Buffalo negated this turnover. That didn’t happen on the next one. Same drive. Botched handoff on what appeared to be a read-option play. Mahomes sorta kept the ball and then lost it. The Bills recovered the first Chiefs turnover in 70 days.
Opportunities to expand their advantage abounded for Kansas City. They didn’t always seize them. They sacked Allen, only to watch a beautiful third-down throw sail between defenders on Buffalo’s first scoring drive. They scored on a Mahomes throw to Xavier Worthy, the once-maligned rookie wideout no longer. They took a 21–10 lead with just under two minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bills just kept coming. The Chiefs expected that. Allen led another drive. Buffalo scored another touchdown. The Bills went for two and failed. The score, at half: 21–16. Not close at all and too close for comfort.
Early into the third, Buffalo stopped a Mahomes scramble on third down, taking Kansas City out of field goal range. The Bills scored on a James Cook touchdown dash, failed another two-point conversion and led, 22–21, with two nearly guaranteed points never attempted after touchdowns.
They were driving again, as the third quarter ended. They could have run a play, with, yes, 13 seconds on that clock. This time, it ran out. This time, the Bills had the ball, and they faced a fourth-and-1. Allen snuck forward, plowed forward, but Kansas City’s stout defense halted his momentum early and held firm. Officials reviewed the play, and found him … short of the first down.
“This came down to an inch, literally,” Reid, the former aspiring sports writer, would say afterward, putting a new twist on an old cliché. “That’s how far the spot was.”
Mahomes rushed for another touchdown, marking another first—first playoff game with two rushing TDs—and then hit Justin Watson while throwing off his back foot, for a two-point conversion that made it, 29–22. Buffalo tied the game at 29. The Chiefs went ahead on a late field goal. The Chiefs held on. Again. They were Super Bowl bound. Again.
Even in this most uneven season, Mahomes was what he always is: inevitable.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach basically predicted this when he met with Sports Illustrated in early November. Perhaps he was trying to stay optimistic. Maybe he truly believed that all the reconfiguring would lead to a better, healthier, stronger team right, well, now.
He laid out the injuries: stud wideout Rashee Rice, out until late-late into the season after colliding with Mahomes; prized free agent Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, signed for speed, in part to free up other targets; running back Isiah Pacheco; wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, signed due to injuries at that position, then added to the ever-growing injury list; and Jaylen Watson, the team’s No. 2 cornerback, at a position where Veach lacked depth.
He wasn’t done, though, this general manager with adaptability baked into his bones. He traded for prized wideout DeAndre Hopkins and brought back Hunt to replace Pacheco and then share the backfield with him. Mahomes influenced both moves.
Veach laid out his own hypothetical. Last August, say he was eating dinner. Say someone told him that Kansas City would be undefeated after nine games led by Hunt and Hopkins. His response would have been, “You’re f---ing nuts.”
Reminded of this conversation late Sunday, Veach smiles the world’s smallest, tightest smile and says, “Yeah.” Like with Christensen, there wasn’t a whole lot to say. They’d done it. Again. Behind Pat. Again.
The statistics Mahomes continues to amass are staggering, especially in relation to his age; he turned 29 in September. Already, five AFC championships. Already, five Super Bowl appearances. Already, 17 playoff victories, second most all time, behind only Brady.
Already, three Lombardi Trophies. Which matches his total of playoff losses in eight seasons.
Already, only one title from tying Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, who each had four.
Mahomes cared little about any of that Sunday. Instead, he said, “The regular season, when we won all those close games, that’s what prepared us for today.”
Spoken like a superstar who expected, not this, not exactly, but something, some way, some path, some wiggle or throw or prayer that would take Mahomes and the Chiefs back to the same place. As the final seconds ticked off the clock at Arrowhead, fans threw napkins, streamers, whatever was light and nearby, down toward the field. Red fireworks exploded overhead, same as they always do this time of year.
Allen sat on Buffalo’s bench, surrounded and yet, very much alone, eyes downcast, parka pulled as far over his head as possible. Four times now. Four times. To Mahomes. In the playoffs.
Tammy Reid, Andy’s wife, wore a Chiefs-colored mink coat onto the field. “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled blared from the stadium’s speakers. As Kansas City accepted another conference honor named after Lamar Hunt, Clark’s father and the founder of the franchise, Clark was interviewed on-stage. “Chiefs Kingdom,” he bellowed, “we’re headed to New Orleans to make history!”
Never before had a back-to-back Super Bowl champion even advanced to a third consecutive title game. The Chiefs have done that, and that’s not what they’re after. That three-peat is.
In the postgame bedlam, Taylor Swift planted a kiss on the cheek of Kelce, her boyfriend. Music thumped from the three-foot-tall speaker next to Mahomes’s locker. After everything, these Chiefs were elated.
George Karlaftis couldn’t stop raving about Steve Spagnuolo, his defensive coordinator for whom the team says, In Spags We Trust. Bruises from cupping therapy dotted Karlaftis’s arms. “People say that Chris Jones is the heart and soul of this defense,” Karlaftis says. “It’s Spags.”
He meant no disrespect. Spags had told his defense to trust that Allen liked to go left—an anti-Zoolander—on quarterback sneaks. That’s how they’d stopped him, by loading up, right there.
Twenty feet away, Spags stood in the center of the locker room, chatting with longtime Chiefs fan Eric Stonestreet. The actor, asked what he told Spags, said, “Just how proud I am.”
It’s all coming together. Again. The quarterback is healthy, primed and even more experienced. The defensive coordinator has entered wizard mode. Reid won his 301st career game Sunday (combining regular season and playoffs), putting him within striking distance of Don Shula’s all-time record of 347. Reid had, as Hunt put it late Sunday, “the quarterback he [has been] waiting his whole career for.”
Who among a nation obsessed with professional football would bet against them?
Not Christensen, who’s statistic needed updating. “There is no other mvp!!!!” he sent in a text message late Sunday night. In his past 24 games, Mahomes is now 23–1. Only a fool would bet against him.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Was What He Always Is Against Buffalo—Inevitable.