Since becoming the Kansas City Chiefs‘ starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes has led the team to six consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances from the 2018 season through 2023. Where does he rank in total championship game appearances among quarterbacks?
Patrick Mahomes’ Championship Game Appearances
Mahomes’ six consecutive Conference Championship appearances put him in second place for the most consecutive appearances by a quarterback.
The Tom Brady-led New England Patriots hold the record for consecutive appearances in a Conference Championship.
From 2011 — when New England lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants — to 2018 — when the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams — the Patriots reached eight consecutive Conference Championship games.
During that stretch of eight appearances, the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl five times. In those five trips, the Patriots hoisted the Lombardi Trophy on three occasions (2014, 2016, and 2018).
There is some overlap between that Patriots team and the current Chiefs team, as Brady’s Pats beat Mahomes’ Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium in the 2019 AFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl LIII.
Mahomes is starting to advance on New England’s record. With the appearance against the Baltimore Ravens in 2024, Kansas City has now been to six straight AFC Championship Games, the second-longest streak in NFL history.
In terms of total championship game appearances, Mahomes currently ranks lower on the list. Brady holds the record with 14, while Steve Young, Joe Montana, and Roger Staubach all have seven. John Elway and Terry Bradshaw each have six.
For a brief period, it appeared that Kansas City’s streak could come to an end this season as they took a 24-9 loss to the struggling Denver Broncos and went 2-4 for a six-week stretch that included losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, and Buffalo Bills.
Mahomes recently admitted that this was perhaps the most challenging season of his career so far.
“I would say it’s just challenging in the fact that I had to deal with a lot of adversity, not having the success that I’ve had in the past,” Mahomes explained.
“Knock on wood, I haven’t had to deal with the injuries I have had before, but at the same time, being able to not win all the games and go out there and have big stats and all that kind of stuff has been different.”
The team was still easily able to claim a playoff spot and has had another nice run in the postseason.
“It’s taught me how to win in different ways, though, and become the best quarterback for our team,” Mahomes said. “Not necessarily the best quarterback for stats and stuff like that, but the best quarterback for us to go out there and get wins.”
In the Wild Card round, Kansas City defeated the Miami Dolphins 26-7 as Mahomes went 23 of 41 passing for 262 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.
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The following week, the Chiefs defeated the Bills 27-24 in the Divisional Round to advance to the AFC Championship Game to take on the Baltimore Ravens. In the first road playoff game of Mahomes’ career, he threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns while completing 17 of 23 pass attempts.
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