Bills player has message for Patrick Mahomes before first road playoff game

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be playing his 16th playoff game on Sunday in Buffalo, and it will be the first one that is a true road game for him. It will not be a welcoming environment for multiple reasons, ranging from the weather to the hostile crowd that is the Bills Mafia. 

Buffalo offensive tackle Dion Dawkins has a very simple message for Mahomes in his first road playoff experience -- "Good luck."

While Mahomes has played in Buffalo once in his career, it was a regular season game during the 2020 season when there were no fans allowed in the stadium due to COVID regulations. It will be very different this time around as one of the most intimidating home crowds in the league will be making life miserable for Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense.

Dawkins could not be more excited. 

From ESPN:

"[Mahomes has] only been here once. So he's never been here. Simple as that," left tackle Dion Dawkins said. "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."

Buffalo definitely has one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL, but there is something about all of this that seems to fall under the category of "don't poke the bear." 

Even though Mahomes has never played a road playoff game, he is a seasoned veteran who has played in every environment imaginable in the NFL, including its biggest stages. His 2023 regular season performance may not have been up to his usual standard, but he is still one of the best players in all of football. This kind of talk could be the added motivation he needs to really light things up.  

This will be the third playoff meeting between the Chiefs and Bills in the Mahomes-Josh Allen era, with the Chiefs winning the previous two. Both of those games were in Kansas City. 

The Bills won the regular season meeting between the two after a Kadarius Toney offside penalty negated a potential game-winning touchdown for the Chiefs.

This is one of the most anticipated playoff games of the year. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening.