3 Mistakes Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Must Avoid vs. Josh Allen, Bills in NFL Playoffs

Patrick Mahomes will play the first true road game in his 16-game postseason career on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

Mahomes navigated every situation imaginable in the postseason inside Arrowhead Stadium, or at neutral venues, but he has not gone into a hostile environment and won yet.

Buffalo is playing some of the best football of the remaining eight playoff participants, and Kansas City must match its production in all aspects of the game to leave Highmark Stadium with a win.

That means the Chiefs must continue to commit to Isiah Pacheco in the ground game. Mahomes will make a handful of plays to keep drives alive, but the Chiefs must avoid long-yardage, third-down situations.

When Kansas City does pass the ball, Mahomes does not have to overcomplicate his throwing process.

Buffalo is decimated by injuries at linebacker, and that could lead to big games for both Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce.

Defensively, the task seems fairly simple. The Chiefs must contain Josh Allen to the best of their abilities.

Kansas City needs to play from in front on offense.

A heavy dose of Isiah Pacheco is required to settle into an offensive rhythm and to take the Buffalo crowd out of the game.

Pacheco ran 24 times for 89 yards and a score in the wild-card win over the Miami Dolphins and he should find success against a Buffalo defense with a ton of injuries across the middle.

Pacheco did not face the Bills in Week 13 because of an injury, and that forced the Chiefs to switch up their game plan. Clyde Edwards-Helaire was the team’s leading rusher with 39 yards on 11 carries.

Kansas City had reasons to abandon the ground attack in parts of that game because Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon are not as physical as Pacheco.

The Chiefs should use the second-year running back almost as much as last week, and if he finds success again, he could open up the offense for Mahomes.

The Chiefs simplified their passing attack in the wild-card round.

Mahomes went to his two most reliable wide receivers at a high rate and turned into a successful venture.

Rice and Kelce combined for 15 receptions on 22 targets for 201 yards and a touchdown.

No one else in the Kansas City offense earned more than three targets. Justin Watson was the only other player with multiple receptions.

Throwing to Rice and Kelce at a high rate may be predictable, but it is also effective and a strategy the Chiefs must employ because of how their regular season went.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney and others had plenty of chances to prove themselves in key spots and failed.

If Mahomes strays from Rice or Kelce, expect Watson or Mecole Hardman to be the targets and no one else.

Hardman could be used once or twice on a deep shot. The Chiefs were close to converting on one of those plays against Miami.

Even with that in mind, Rice and Kelce should earn at least 80 percent of Mahomes’ targets to get past Buffalo.

Kansas City needs to scheme up a way to contain Allen.

The Buffalo quarterback has had plenty of success in both aspects of the offense in his two previous postseason clashes with the Chiefs.

Allen threw for 616 yards and ran for 156 more yards in the two matchups at Arrowhead Stadium.

Buffalo lost both of those games, but Allen did everything he could to keep the Bills within striking distance of the Chiefs.

Allen torched the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 52-yard touchdown run on Monday as part of a 74-yard rushing performance.

Allen ran for at least 50 yards in six of his nine postseason starts. Buffalo relies on his legs to open up different parts of its offense.

If Allen gets going on the ground again, Kansas City could be in trouble because that would give the Bills momentum and it will take Mahomes off the field for more time.