Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are in familiar territory. After playing in their 6th straight AFC Championship on Sunday, they are advancing to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the last five years, where they will take on the San Francisco 49ers in a meeting of two of the top teams in the NFL over the past half-decade.
NFL: Patrick Mahomes Is 10-3 When Listed As An Underdog
Patrick Mahomes as an underdog in his career:
♦️ 10-1-1 ATS
♦️ 9-3 straight up pic.twitter.com/YH3a5cS5A9
— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) January 28, 2024
What Mahomes and company are unfamiliar with is being an underdog. Last year’s Super Bowl was the first time since 2015 that Kansas City was the underdog in a postseason game, but the spread against the Eagles in that contest was a mere single point. During their three-game march to the festivities during the current postseason, it has already happened twice.
The cards were stacked against Mahomes for the team’s Divisional Round game against the Bills. Buffalo finally had home field advantage for the matchup, and Josh Allen’s team came in as 2.5-point favorites for Mahomes’ first road playoff game of his NFL career.
But the Chiefs overcame those odds, and even longer ones the following week. The 4.5-point spread in the AFC Championship Game against the Ravens was the largest the Chiefs have faced since Week 9 of 2018, a game which Mahomes sat out due to injury. It was tied for the largest underdog point spread of Mahomes’ career, when he was a 4.5-point underdog in Week 2 of 2018, the first year that he became a starter.
49ers Listed As A Slight Super Bowl Favorite
49ers are 1.5-point favorites over Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII https://t.co/iBuq2Pbxz5 pic.twitter.com/HogoeMdar7
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) January 29, 2024
He hasn’t been listed as a dog much at all during his first six years. It has happened just a total of 13 times (four coming in his first season under center), and he has sported an impressive 10-3 record when having such a designation.
He’ll be doubted for the third straight week and for just the 14th time overall. The 49ers opened as the slight favorite to win Super Bowl 2024, and while the early line has shifted by a half-point depending on the outlet, it seems as though that number will stick throughout the next couple of weeks.
The line is currently sitting at -1.5 in San Francisco’s favor, which may actually bode well with Mahomes and his crew, given their affinity for winning when they are doubted most.