Playoff Experience Will Benefit Chiefs More Than AFC West Rivals

The Kansas City Chiefs are entering the 2025 campaign with a ton of doubters. Following their Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the memory of the beatdown has been in the minds of millions of NFL fans, casting a large shadow over how successful the Chiefs have been in years past.

Going into the new season, however, one of the more popular claims is that the Chiefs will take a step back. Whether that be missing the playoffs in general or failing to capture their tenth straight AFC West division title, predictions are showing a down year for Kansas City.

The Los Angeles Chargers and the Denver Broncos are the two more popular choices for those assuming the Chiefs will lose the division. However, when it comes to clutch victories, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City franchise's culture, the Chiefs know a thing or two.

Take this, for example. According to Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame, Mahomes is a prime example of how successfully clutch the Chiefs are when they punch their ticket to the playoffs, while also showing one weakness of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.

"Patrick Mahomes has played in 16 AFC playoff games. He's thrown 36 TDs against just 3 INTs," Verderame wrote on X. "How impossible is that? Consider Justin Herbert threw four INTs in one playoff game last year."

In Mahomes' playoff experience as a whole, he has collected 46 touchdowns and a total of 10 interceptions. While he does have more experience than Herbert, in the small sample size that the Chargers quarterback has been under the lights of playoff football, his statistics don't jump off the page as a quarterback who can lead his team to a championship.

In two playoff games for Herbert, he has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions. If the Chargers do carry their success into the 2025 campaign, perhaps down the stretch of the regular season, Herbert will fall under the pressure again, allowing Mahomes and Kansas City to take the division.

People can doubt the Chiefs all they want when it comes to the division, but so long as they find their way to the playoffs, the experience will kick in, which is something that fans, whether you love them or hate them, have to expect at this point until proven otherwise.

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