It turned out that Patrick Mahomes didn’t need much luck to take down the Buffalo Bills in the first road playoff game of his career.
The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback delivered a 27-24 victory over the Bills in the January 21 divisional-round game, winning in the first time he had been on the road in the playoffs outside of his three neutral-site Super Bowl appearances. After the game, Mahomes took to Instagram to recall the words of warning from Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins that he might need some luck to win in the hostile atmosphere.
Patrick Mahomes Trolls Bills After Win
In the days leading up to Sunday’s showdown between the Bills and Chiefs, much was made about the first time Mahomes would go on the road and the first time he had to deal with fans at Highmark Stadium. The Chiefs traveled to Buffalo just one other time during Mahomes’ career, but it came in 2020 when the stadium was empty due to COVID restrictions. All of the five meetings between the teams since then were played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Talking to reporters ahead of Sunday’s game, Dawkins had warned that Mahomes didn’t know the atmosphere he would be walking into and wished him luck in trying to knock off the Bills.
“[Mahomes has] only been here once. So he’s never been here. Simple as that,” Dawkins said, per ESPN. “Pat has never been to the Bills stadium in full. … The environment will be different, and not to say it’s in our favor, but stadium is our favor. Stadium is us. That helps us. I don’t care what nobody says. This is the most dopest feeling I’ve ever had. We’re having two back-to-back playoff games home. Come on now, like we get to leave and go eat wings. It’s cool. So good luck.”
Mahomes recalled Dawkins’ words after the game, taking to Instagram to share a picture of himself celebrating in the endzone following the win along with a two-word caption: “Good luck.”
Hostile Atmosphere for Chiefs
While Mahomes was able to guide the Chiefs to a win and their fifth consecutive trip to the AFC Championship game, Dawkins was correct in warning about the hostile atmosphere the visiting team would face. The Bills crowd was loud and involved throughout the game, then after the win pelted Mahomes with snowballs as he was going to the sidelines to celebrate.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Mahomes gave credit to his teammates for staying focused in a loud atmosphere against a team that was riding a six-game winning streak.
“Guys took it as a challenge,” Mahomes said, via ESPN. “We just came in with the same mindset, that we’re going to come together, put our best foot forward and see if we can come out with a win. And that takes the mentality throughout the week, it takes every single play executing, and we did a great job of that today and were able to score enough to win.”
The Chiefs now move on to face the Baltimore Ravens with a chance to reach the Super Bowl, while the Bills head home for the offseason.
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Patrick Mahomes Takes Aim at Veteran Bills Player in 2-Word Instagram Post