The Kansas City Chiefs will play in their sixth consecutive AFC Championship Game on Sunday. It is the second-longest streak for conference finals appearances in NFL history, bested only by the New England Patriots’ nine-year run.
Patrick Mahomes has played in the conference finals every year that he has been a starter thus far. I don’t need to point out that is an astonishing feat. And I didn’t even mention the fact that three of those led to Super Bowl appearances. With perhaps a fourth coming.
In doing so, he continues to dash through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ own quarterback playoff records. With his 13th postseason win last week over the Buffalo Bills, he tied Ben Roethlisberger in all-time playoff wins, right behind Terry Bradshaw.
With his sixth conference finals appearance, he also passes Roethlisberger and ties Bradshaw. Roethlisberger appeared in five conference finals, including four times in his first seven seasons. His last appearance came in 2016. In addition to his four Super Bowl runs, Bradshaw also reached the conference finals in 1972 and 1976.
A victory in the conference finals would also give Mahomes his fourth trip to the Super Bowl. He would then pass Roethlisberger and tie Bradshaw in that category. Even if Mahomes won the Super Bowl again in 2023, though, Bradshaw would still have one more win.
At six conference finals appearances, Mahomes now ranks tied for the third-most in NFL history with Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, and John Elway. He is one behind Joe Montana at seven but far behind Tom Brady’s astonishing 14.
A win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday would give Mahomes 14 postseason victories. He would then tie Bradshaw for the third-most in NFL history, behind Montana (16) and Brady (35). And he would be tied for the fourth-most Super Bowl starts with four as well, behind Elway (five) and Brady (10). He would be tied with Peyton Manning, Jim Kelly, Montana, Bradshaw, and Staubach.
It has been obvious for some years now that we are witnessing a generational talent in Mahomes. The greatest testament to that is perhaps the fact that this is a “down” season. He has thrown for “only” 4,183 yards with 27 touchdowns to 14 interceptions.
Still, they had their bumps in the road. They ended the regular season on a 3-1 run, but that was only after a 1-3 slide, going 2-4 overall in a six-game span. And we are talking about a quarterback who has only lost two games in a row four times in 96 starts.
If Mahomes does go on to win the Super Bowl again this year, he would become just the fifth quarterback to win three or more Super Bowls as a starter. Brady has far and away the most with seven. Bradshaw and Montana both have four. Troy Aikman of the 1990s Dallas Cowboys has three. Roethlisberger is currently tied with Mahomes, both Manning brothers, Elway, and others for the fifth-most Super Bowl wins at two.
