Patrick Mahomes didn’t sugarcoat anything while discussing arguably the most challenging season of his career.
The Chiefs quarterback, whose offense struggled throughout the regular season, acknowledged his dip in stats while speaking to reporters Thursday in Kansas City — and explained how this season has been different.
“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 said before the Chiefs’ practice on Thursday.
“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.”
Mahomes led the Chiefs to their sixth consecutive AFC Championship game with a 27-24 win against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The 28-year-old two-time Super Bowl champion has reached the AFC title game every season he has been the starter.
But this season has been a journey like no other.
The Chiefs won the AFC West and ended the regular season with an 11-6 record — but those wins were mostly messy victories.
Kansas City went through a tough two-month midseason slump, when it lost five games in an eight-week stretch.
Prior to that, Mahomes only lost five times in the regular season once, per The Associated Press.
Mahomes didn’t have a bad season by any means, but he struggled with downfield passing and saw a dip in stats across the board.
It wasn’t all on the quarterback.
The Chiefs’ offense couldn’t find its rhythm at times and racked up dropped passes and penalties.
“It’s taught me how to win in different ways, though, and become the best quarterback for our team,” he 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.”
The Chiefs-Ravens AFC Championship game will take place in Baltimore on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
