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The Kansas City Chiefs have proven time and time again that they’re built for the playoffs. Finishing the 2024 regular season with an impressive 15-2 record, they went on to beat the Houston Texans 23-14 in the Divisional Round. Then, in a nail-biter, they just handed the Buffalo Bills a 32-29 defeat in the AFC Championship game and punched their ticket to their fifth Super Bowl in six years.
In regards to their performance, Mark Ingram, the 2009 Heisman winner and former Baltimore Ravens running back, recently spoke to The Sports Daily and offered his insightful analysis as to what makes the Chiefs so effective in the playoffs.
“The Chiefs don’t beat themselves,” Ingram said. “You can’t help the Chiefs because they don’t beat themselves. They have Patrick Mahomes. If you give them extra opportunities, it’s hard to beat them. Then we saw this year two turnovers in the first half and the turnover late in the game.
“When it comes to the games that matter the most in the postseason, you can’t beat yourself. That’s what makes the Chiefs so hard to stop.”
The Chiefs were exceptional this season. They ranked sixth in passing yards at 4,046 and seventh in total yards at 5,570. Mahomes led the way with 3,928 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and only nine interceptions. Travis Kelce chipped in with 823 receiving yards, and Kareem Hunt added 728 rushing yards. Moreover, their defense ranked fourth in points allowed per game at 19.2 and racked up 39 sacks total sacks on the year.
Ingram also compared Kansas City’s cool and collected style to Baltimore’s recent playoff missteps. The Ravens, for instance, coughed up the ball three times in their 27-25 loss to the Bills in this year’s Divisional Round, as Lamar Jackson gave it away twice, and Mark Andrews missed a crucial two-point conversion. Not only that, in the 2023 AFC Championship, the Ravens lost 17-10 to the Chiefs, after turning the ball over three times, while the Chiefs kept it clean with zero turnovers.
“The thing that’s so intriguing about the NFL is it’s a tournament,” Ingram said. “If you go out there on the road, and you have three turnovers, and you have mistakes, and you have drops, and you allow big plays, then you go home. That’s just the unfortunate part of it.”
With Mahomes steering the ship, the Chiefs now boast a 26-21 all-time playoff record and have their sights set on another Lombardi Trophy. On February 9, they’ll face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59, a rematch of Super Bowl 57, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, aiming for a historic three-peat.
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