NFL fans have become pretty accustomed to seeing Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. In his nine-year career, the 30-year-old signal caller has seen the postseason seven times. Three of those seasons, he led his team all the way to lifting the Lombardi Trophy. But 2025-26 will be the first time since 2017 that Mahomes and the Chiefs will not be participating in the playoffs. He's thrown for a whopping 5,814 passing yards and 46 touchdowns in the postseason, the latter being a good for second-most in NFL history.
However, a QB playing in the postseason for the first time since 2021 is threatening to overtake Mahomes on that list. The Pittsburgh Steelers' Aaron Rodgers has tossed for 45 playoff touchdowns in his illustrious career (all with the Green Bay Packers). Mahomes and Rodgers, though, are nowhere near the all-time leader, eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady (88).
Patrick Mahomes has even more motivation to return to health and playoffs in 2026
Player | NFL Playoff TD Passes |
|---|---|
Tom Brady (NE, TB) | 88 |
Patrick Mahomes (KC) | 46 |
Aaron Rodgers (GB, NYJ, PIT) | 45 |
As if Mahomes and the Chiefs needed any more motivation to do better than their disappointing 6-11 campaign. The team holds the No. 9 overall pick in the upcoming draft and recorded less than 10 wins for the first time since 2014 (first time with a losing record since 2012).
Chiefs fans saw their beloved QB go down with a torn ACL in Week 15, the same game in which the team was eliminated from playoff contention by its AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers. Mahomes has a long road to recovery but seeing Rodgers pass him on the all-time playoff touchdowns list will just add fuel to his fire.
Rodgers 45 postseason scores are all the more impressive considering he racked them up with just a single team, the Green Bay Packers, across 11 different playoff runs. He, of course, did not make it back to the postseason with the New York Jets and now looks poised to attempt and ride off into the sunset at 42 years old with one last run in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers will host the wild card Houston Texans on Monday. Historically, Rodgers has thrown for 17 touchdowns against Houston in his career and has emerged victorious four out of five times.
Even if Rodgers does pass Mahomes on that list, it's just a matter of time before he reclaims his spot and likely begins to chase down Brady's incredible mark. However, with the Chiefs watching the playoffs at home for the first time in a while, the all-world quarterback and fans will have to wait much longer than they'd want for that.