Chiefs’ Playoff History
OMG! Was that a great game or what? Are you still celebrating? Down 10 points at the half. Yes, I knew the Chiefs had a chance, but I wasn’t very optimistic. Plus, Mahomes was banged up again. It just didn’t look good. The Eagles looked unbeatable, but that is why they play two halves, and thanks to extra long half times. The Chiefs were fortunate to get a TD from a fumble. The long punt return didn’t hurt anything, did it? In fact, it was the longest punt return in Super Bowl history (65 yards). The Chiefs also got a couple of calls go their way. This 38-35 come-from-behind victory will surely solidify Mahomes, Reid, and the Chiefs in football history.
Obviously, Patrick Mahomes remains the King in the ever-growing Chiefs Kingdom. I guess that makes Kelce the Prince. Mahomes stands at 11-3 in playoff games. If you are not impressed by that listen to some of these facts. The next closest to Mahomes is Lenny Dawson with a playoff record of 5-3. But, remember Lenny was a Chief for 14 years. Mahomes has done all this in six years. Remember when Joe Montana came to town in 1993-94? He helped, but he ended with a playoff record of 2-2. Alex Smith had a great regular season record of 53-27, but went 1-4 in the playoffs. Smith’s only playoff (PO) win was a 2015 wildcard game. Steve Deberg, back in the early ‘90s, went 1-2. He won a 1991 wildcard game 10-6 over the Raiders. So, Mahomes has elevated the Kingdom’s PO wins to MVP levels and you have to think there are more to come.
More Playoff History: In the last five years the Chiefs have won 11 playoff games. In the 55 years previous the Chiefs had won only eight. In fact, the Chiefs had a 21-year span where they did not win a PO game (1994-2014). Remember those years? We did not feel like a Kingdom back then, did we? So, being in the playoffs for eight straight years with 12 wins and two Super Bowl Titles is pretty amazing.
Looking at the other side of the coin: Who has punished us the most in our 21 playoff losses? The Colts have given us the most disappointing losses. Including 1995, 2003,’06,’13, and ’18. Dang Colts. I like Payton Manning but he beat us in the ‘03 and ‘06 games. The Dolphins have not been very kind, they beat us in ‘1971, ‘90, and ’94. On the positive side, the Chiefs are 3-2 vs the Bills in PO games.
Even after this big 2022 Super Bowl win I looked at five of the toughest PO losses the Chiefs have experienced, (For a long time I thought 2022 was going to be another one.) It isn’t so much that we lost so many playoff games, but how we lost them. Giving up large leads, dumb mistakes, missing field goals, etc. I remembered most of them. I warn you this may be hard to revisit.
Let’s start in 1971. This was the longest NFL game ever played. It was the 27-24 double overtime loss to the Dolphins on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas, right? Next, the 17-16 loss to the Dolphins in 1990. The Chiefs led 16-3 going into the fourth quarter. Next the 1993 loss to the Bills 30-13. Clearly, the Montana Magic did not last. Next came the 1995 loss to the Colts 10-7. We were expected to win. plus Elliot missed three makeable field goals. The 14-10 loss to the Broncos in 1997 was tough. You know it is a bad day when you lose to your main rival in the playoffs at home. OK, there’s more, but that is enough of the painful memories.
Back to the present time. We won in 2022! The chiefs are the LXVII Super Bowl Champions!!! Let’s leave it at that. Go Chiefs! What a great memory this will make.
