Mahomes just revealed the Chiefs’ hidden ace, and what happens next will shock every fan watching.QQ
Kansas City, Missouri — Years and three Super Bowl rings later, Patrick Mahomes still points to the 2017 AFC Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans (a 22–21 defeat after leading 21–3) as thecanon event that hardened the championship DNA of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Asked about Marcus Mariota (now starting for Washington), Mahomes recounted the chain of momentum swings: Derrick Johnson’ssack-fumble that didn’t stand, Mariota’s tipped pass he caught himself for a touchdown, and Travis Kelce’s injury right before halftime—moments that flipped the game’s rhythm.
“It was a crazy swing of momentum,” Mahomes said. “A couple of plays changed everything—from the call that didn’t go our way to Marcus’s wild play, then Travis getting hurt. We didn’t close out the moments that could have put the game away.”
From that sideline vantage (with Alex Smith as QB1), Mahomes says he learned to manage momentum: “You can’t let a few snaps turn the whole game. You have to ride out the rough stretches, regain control, and pull the contest back onto your terms.”
Those lessons helped mold Mahomes’s trademark poise: calm in chaos, disciplined in down-and-distance management, and ruthlessly efficient in high-leverage situations. That evolution, within Andy Reid’s structure, underpins the Chiefs’ sustained run of January success.
As Mariota heads to Arrowhead for a Monday night meeting, Mahomes’s message hasn’t changed: respect every opponent, control the tempo, and eliminate the tiny errors that can snowball—exactly the pitfalls he witnessed in 2017.
“Definitely a lesson,” Mahomes concluded. For the Chiefs, that “canon event” is more than a blemish in the record—it’s a compass for surviving playoff storms and winning with detail, resilience, and conviction in the game’s tiniest decisive moments.
