The Patrick Mahomes factor means more than ever in NFL playoffs

Patrick Mahomes was never going down without a fight when the Kansas City Chiefs were down in the fourth quarter (multiple times) to the Buffalo Bills. I had been preaching all week that Patrick Mahomes doesn’t really lose games like these and if the Chiefs were to lose it would not be because of him.

There has been a lot of situations in the past where I said to myself, “It’s over” and the Chiefs would shock me with a miraculous comeback. For that reason, I have started to give them the benefit of the doubt more often than not, but with 13 seconds left and Buffalo taking a 36-33 lead, I left them for dead. Surely any deficit is too much to overcome with just 13 seconds left, right? Wrong.

Somehow, Patrick Mahomes scraped together 50 yards in 10 seconds to give Harrison Butker a chance to redeem himself on the night and send the game to overtime. We all know what happened after that.

Many have already dubbed it the “13-second Game” and I would call it a classic Patrick Mahomes “Over my dead body” game. Whatever you want to call it, it has made the Mahomes factor in playoff games mean more than ever.

The Patrick Mahomes playoff factor is weighted heavier than ever

For years it seemed like the K.C. Chiefs were on the opposite end of a game like that or choking it away down the stretch. It wasn’t but a few years ago when the Chiefs were the ones to not even get an opportunity in overtime against the Patriots in 2018, which is why I’m not so sympathetic towards Buffalo complaining about the overtime rules.

Nonetheless, as Patrick Mahomes has matured and the team has really started to be built around him, he doesn’t appear to lose these games too often and that’s simply because he is the best quarterback in the NFL. If 13 seconds left on the clock is too much then is the clock really all that big of a concern to Mahomes? I’m not sure. Even after the Bills’ final touchdown, he had the look of “No way, I’m letting it end like this.”

His opponent on Sunday night, Josh Allen, was fantastic and gave Buffalo a chance, but he’s not better than Mahomes which is why we got this result. Quite frankly, I find Mahomes’ performance more impressive not just because he came up clutch every time, but because he did it against the Bills’ No. 1 scoring defense while Allen was able to get some cheap touchdowns against a depleted Chiefs secondary. Just being honest on that front.

Looking at who is left in the playoffs, Mahomes is far and away the best quarterback left and the other quarterbacks who played on Divisional weekend that come even close to Mahomes let their teams down. Brady finally had too much to overcome against the Rams despite all the Rams turnovers and Aaron Rodgers lost at home to a team that didn’t score a touchdown on offense or defense.

There was a strong contingent out there already that believes Mahomes was already the best but I think it is becoming more clear that Mahomes is truly the best in the game and you simply can’t bet against him when it matters most.

There was a lot of national media out there picking the Bills to win this game and talking up Josh Allen but after last night, the disrespect needs to end. It’s okay to acknowledge that there are other great quarterbacks while also simultaneously acknowledging none of them touch Mahomes.

The Mahomes Playoff factor now feels so real. When I was watching last night there was a certain fire in Mahomes’ eyes that led me to believe he wasn’t going to lose. It was a version of Mahomes that we’ve seen before but maybe not quite to the level we saw on Sunday. That sort of Tom Brady-esque vibe where the other team could do everything they were capable of and still not have it be enough.

Mahomes has captured that aura now and it is a surreal feeling. Sunday’s game was a reminder that Mahomes is the biggest factor in the postseason and that fans should cherish what they have right now with him. Don’t forget you have the best quarterback in the world. It’s going to mean more than anything else on the biggest stage.