KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had no chance — let’s be honest.
NFL teams down by three points with 13 seconds left and starting at their own 25-yard line aren’t supposed to win.
It just doesn’t happen.
Unless your quarterback is Patrick Mahomes, apparently.
Facing steep odds, Kansas City coach Andy Reid offered his prize pupil some encouraging words as he set off to the huddle for what would become one of the most famous drives in team history.
“When it’s grim, be the Grim Reaper and go get it,” Reid said of his message to Mahomes. “He did that. He made everybody around him better, which he is great at and he just does it effortlessly. When it gets tough, he’s going to be there battling, and people appreciate that.”
First, it was a 19-yard dart to Tyreek Hill, which moved Kansas City near midfield.
After a timeout, Mahomes zipped a 25-yard pass to Travis Kelce on a freelanced play up the seam.
Harrison Butker sent the game to overtime with a 49-yard field goal from there and Mahomes, who finished 33 of 44 for 378 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, finished off Buffalo in overtime.
“This is definitely another step for him into the Hall of Fame,” said Hill, who caught 11 passes for 150 yards with a 64-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. “He had a chance to prove once again he’s at the top when it comes to quarterbacks in this league. We know it, but I feel like the rest of the league sometimes doubts him.”
Asked where Mahomes ranks, Hill said, “He’s top two — and he’s not two.”
It’s all part of the Mahomes mystique.
He led a franchise that had struggled to even win a playoff game for nearly three decades to the NFL summit two years and took the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl last season.
Now, Kansas City, which had never hosted an AFC Championship Game before Mahomes’ arrival, will host for an NFL-record fourth consecutive season.
“Every time he comes in that huddle, he says ‘Let’s be great’ … and when he says it, it doesn’t come off as corny,” Reid said.
But that’s a reflection of the faith Reid has in Mahomes.
“Coach Reid is always telling Pat to be great, because he is great,” Hill said.
