Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs easily handled their business in the Divisional Round against the Houston Texans. They won 23-14, but some early decisions from the referees went in favor of the defending champions, resulting in an outburst on social media from fans.
The Chiefs would have won the game even if those calls had not been made, yet many people were bothered by it. Former Denver Broncos offensive lineman and current FS1 analyst Mark Schlereth also discussed it during his recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show.”
Mark Schlereth Talks About Chiefs Ahead of AFC Championship Game
Schlereth admitted that he loves to take a dig at the Chiefs due to his allegiance with the Broncos and likes to raise issues about the refs’ decisions via his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. However, he clearly said that these decisions are not the sole reason why Mahomes and Co. have been so successful this decade.
“I have a ton of respect for the Kansas City Chiefs,” said Schlereth. “You know, the Kansas City Chiefs, personal foul and the late hit on the quarterback, that wasn’t what caused the eight sacks they gave up. That wasn’t the cause of the lack of special team attention to detail and the blocked field goal and the return and all those things. Kansas City just puts you in a position for you to make a mistake.”
He also highlighted the brilliance of Chiefs’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, whose gameplan seemingly completely caught C.J. Stroud off guard. The Texans quarterback played quite well (76.6, C+, according to PFN’s QB+ metric) and didn’t commit any turnovers; however, getting sacked eight times is tough for any quarterback to overcome.
“I go back to Steve Spagnuolo,” continued Schlereth. “He blitzed about five straight plays in a row where he’s playing zero coverage and saying, ‘Hey, man, I have so much faith in my guys, their ability to get there if I design a blitz, their ability to cover on the back end of that thing, that we’re just going to go after the quarterback and we’re going to go get him.'”
The discussions around Kansas City getting benefits from refs’ decisions will continue as long they are successful. Similar things happened in the Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills game, but there wasn’t as much attention given to it on social media in comparison to the calls in the Chiefs’ game.
Due to the brilliance of the Chiefs’ defense, Mahomes and the offense were not required to do much. They didn’t make any errors, and the self-inflicted mistakes from the other team once again helped Kansas City win a game.
The Chiefs will face the Bills in the AFC Championship Game. Josh Allen and Co. have played similarly to the Chiefs, and the matchup between two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL could turn out to be a thriller.
Patrick Mahomes Has Been Flawless Against Bills in the Playoffs
The Chiefs lost 30-21 to the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 earlier this season, but they will not be too worried about their opponents in the AFC Championship Game. Allen is 4-1 against Mahomes in the regular season but has failed to win a single game in the playoffs in three attempts.
Based on stats, the Chiefs quarterback is, without a doubt, the best postseason quarterback in the NFL’s history. He has played flawless football against the Bills in three playoff games and will aim to do the same on Sunday.
In the three postseason wins against the Bills, Mahomes has thrown for 918 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. He has completed 75.2% of his throws and has a stunning passer rating of 126.6.
The two-time NFL MVP has also rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.2 yards per carry against Buffalo in the postseason. We can expect Mahomes to have another back-breaking run late in the fourth quarter to seal or win the game for the Chiefs like he has done in multiple important games for his team.
The current Bills team is not the best they have had in the Allen era. However, they have looked the best due to the change in philosophy, which has decreased pressure on the quarterback. In the win against the Ravens, Allen accounted for just 147 yards of total offense, which might not be enough to win against the Chiefs.
The Bills have had multiple heartbreaks against the Chiefs in the postseason. From the 13-second game to their kicker Tyler Bass missing a game-tying field goal attempt in the Divisional Round last season, Buffalo has had enough things to learn from to prepare for the upcoming game. It will be interesting to see whether Allen and his teammates will avoid mistakes against Kansas City like other players have made throughout the season.
