Arrowhead Pride
In Week 11’s loss to Buffalo, Kansas City’s quarterback did not record a rush.
AFC Championship games have been a career norm for Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Years from now — when the league’s biggest star is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — his highlight reel is certain to feature many runs that helped the Chiefs reach (and win) multiple Super Bowls.
But when the Chiefs played the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 — the only loss this season featuring most of the team’s starters — Mahomes did not record a rushing attempt. Now that Kansas City is preparing to play Buffalo in Sunday’s conference title game, Mahomes, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy are all talking about whether Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott will once again try to limit Mahomes’ rushing.
“[The Bills] do a good job of making sure that any of these quarterbacks that use their legs as a weapon [are limited],” Nagy told reporters on Thursday. “They have some techniques that they use to try to eliminate that. Pat has done a great job in his career of being able to do just that in big-time moments.
“Coach McDermott and his guys there, I think, [make that] something that they really emphasize. We’re aware of that. We know that. We’ve got to pick and choose — and Pat does in particular — when he wants to use his legs. Also, I think [Pat] does a great job of keeping his eyes downfield.”
Mahomes expects Buffalo’s defensive game plan to feature a spy to keep him in the pocket, but the star knows everything will be on the line in the penultimate playoff round.
“You just play to win,” he said on Thursday. “There will be opportunities to run the football. They do a good job of spying the quarterback in certain situations. You want to be able to use your feet — but at the same time, work within the pocket [and] find guys down the field.
“But it’s the AFC Championship game. You’ve got to put it all on the line in order to win and try to get to the Super Bowl, and this is a great football team we’re going against. So I think all of us are going to go out there and give everything we have.”
Reid agreed that Buffalo’s spy tactics worked in the November matchup — although he noted an important caveat.
“They did a good job with that,” recalled Reid of Buffalo’s tactics against Mahomes, “although we didn’t have runs called at that time; we just had throws. They’ve got called runs for their quarterback. That’s not what we have.”
Reid was recognizing that Buffalo’s strong running game allows their quarterback Josh Allen to be even more of a weapon. In contrast, Mahomes’ big plays on the ground often come from necessity.
“They’ve been running the ball very well,” Reid said of the Bills. “They’ve got two good running backs...
