KANSAS CITY, Mo. — “Playoff Pat” was in full effect.
It was second-and-7 at the Miami Dolphins’ 16-yard line early in the second quarter of the coldest game in the history of GEHA Field at Arrowhead, an AFC Super Wild Card showdown with Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs.
After opening the game with a touchdown, three straight trips to the red zone had only netted field goals for the Chiefs, so Mahomes only had one thing in mind when took off scrambling — and the rest will go down in Playoff Pat lore, even though he was tackled at the 3-yard line.
“I was trying to get in that end zone,” said Mahomes, who threw for 262 yards and rushed for 41 in a 26-7 victory. “Young Pat wouldn’t have gotten in. I’m getting a little old. Like against Tennessee (in the 2018 AFC Championship Game), I would have spun and got in there, but (Saturday) I got squared up and got my helmet cracked.”
Wait, what was that last part?
It’s true — as Mahomes approached the goal line, Miami cornerback Kader Kohou and safety DeShon Elliott converged.
“That was a tough one, because he was going to get the first down, right?” Reid said. “Then, they missed a tackle and he got kind of caught in the washing machine. Once you go, now you’re just survival right there when you’ve got all those defensive guys bearing down on you.”
Mahones, the Chiefs’ two-time MVP and two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback, got tattooed a few feet short of the goal line.
“I try not to do it too much, but it’s playoff time,” Mahomes said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to put it all on the line and try to get in the end zone to win football games.”
He emerged from the collision with a hole in his helmet.
“I’m sure it had to do with it being really cold,” Mahomes said. “I didn’t know what happened in the moment, but I got in the huddle and everybody was telling me. I was like, ‘I got y’all, but I’m not coming out (of) the game. We can figure it out on the sideline.’”
Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice was in shock; he’d never seen anything like it.
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire alertly sprinted to the home sideline — yelling for the Chiefs’ equipment staff to get the backup QB helmet, the one with the green dot that allows communication with the coaches on the sideline.
“They have a backup, but we’ve got to talk about where we store the backup because it was frozen,” Mahomes said. “When I tried to put it on, it was completely frozen and I couldn’t get it on. I don’t know if anyone got a picture of it; it didn’t look great.”
After the drive ended, Kansas City’s equipment staff adjusted it and got it warmed up. It’s unclear what happened to the cracked helmet, which had the look of a hockey player missing a tooth.
“That’s Patrick Mahomes and just shows the ultimate competitor that he is,” wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling said. “He would go out there and play with no helmet and no facemask if he had to.”
The Chiefs settled for a field goal on the drive — Harrison Butker’s fourth of the game, which set a new franchise playoffs record — but scored the back-breaking touchdown the next drive in icing the win.
“We were able to get rolling from there,” Mahomes said.
Now, Kansas City has rolled into the AFC Divisional Round for the seventh consecutive season, including all six with Mahomes as the starter.
“I don’t think any of us in here have any question about that,” Reid said. “His will to win is ridiculous. He’s a great competitor.”
The Chiefs have never lost in the Divisional Round with Mahomes at QB, but they’ve also never played on the road.
That could happen if Buffalo beats Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon.
The Chiefs would play next Sunday at the Bills for a spot in the AFC Championship Game.
If the Steelers pull the upset, it would send the Houston Texans to Kansas City next Saturday when it should be 19 degrees for a high, positively balmy compared to this weekend.
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