KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No team has ever won three consecutive Lombardi Trophies. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to change that.
Mahomes and the Chiefs will take on the Houston Texans at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Chiefs enter as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, thanks to their 15-2 regular season.
“This has been a fun run that we’ve had with the Chiefs,” Mahomes said. “But I think every year is special. Obviously, you want to win three in a row but building those memories with the guys and with the community every single year is special. When I look back at all the different Super Bowls that we’ve won, I look back at special moments that we’ve had and special games that we’ve had. We’ll try to do that the same this year.
“I mean, it’s been a fun run up to this point, but we want to get to that ultimate goal. We know it’s going to be challenging so we have to just really focus in on the day and how we can get better and try to win the game and win the practice so that we’re prepared for the game.”
The Chiefs will enter play well-rested. The Chiefs wrapped up the top seed in the AFC in Week 17 and sat Mahomes and other key players in Week 18 against the Broncos. And with last week’s bye, by the time Saturday’s game comes around, it will be 23 days since the bulk of the team’s starters played a meaningful snap.
A lengthy delay like that could be cause of concern, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid said the team has shown no signs of rust.
“They’ve got a good attitude — the players,” Reid said. “They were in last week and did a nice job with that. And even on the days off a lot of them came in. We wanted to make sure we gave them a little time for recovery, but they’re excited to go. They know they’re playing a good football team.”
The Chiefs defeated the Texans 27-19 at Arrowhead about a month ago when the Chiefs were in the midst of playing three games in 11 days. The Chiefs have beat the Texans four straight times, including the 2020 playoffs when they met in the divisional round and the Chiefs quickly fell behind 24-0 before rallying for a 51-31 win. Mahomes and the Chiefs went on to win their first Super Bowl together a few weeks later.
Now the Chiefs are hoping to follow last year’s recipe for playoff success with tight end Travis Kelce. Last year Kelce sat out the regular-season finale against Miami to rest for the postseason then responded by catching 32 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns over the next four games, helping the Chiefs win their second straight championship.
“I think it’s just the greats, man,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “They step up in the playoffs, and it’s just higher intensity. The best players and the best leaders step up and make the best plays, and he’s done that. And I expect the same from him going into these playoffs.
“I think his mentality that he steps on the football field with at practice and on game day, it kind of resonates with the entire team and gets everybody to play their best football. And that’s what it takes in order to win championships.”
