Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes on Helmet Shattering from Cold vs. Dolphins: 'A First for Me'

When you're as accomplished on the football field as Patrick Mahomes, there aren't many firsts anymore.

That changed Saturday night when a hard hit by Miami Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott broke a piece of his helmet.

"I was trying to get in that end zone," Mahomes told reporters after the game. "A young Pat would've got in. I'm getting a little old. I try not to do it too much, but it's playoff time. Sometimes you've got to put it on the line.

"I'm sure it had to do with it being really cold. I didn't know it happened in the moment, but I got in the huddle and everybody was telling me. I was, 'I'm not coming out of the game.' It was a first for me."

Frigid winter weather took temperatures in Kansas City below zero and wind chills were consistently 20 degrees below zero during the Chiefs' 26-7 win. Mahomes performed admirably despite the conditions, throwing for 262 yards and a touchdown while adding 41 yards rushing.

Elliott and Mahomes made helmet-to-helmet contact on the second of Mahomes' two rushing attempts, with a chunk of the Chiefs quarterback's helmet coming off at the 2-yard line. Kansas City ran one more play before officials noticed the safety issue and forced Mahomes to change his helmet on the field.

"We gotta talk about where we store the backup helmet because it was frozen," Mahomes told reporters. "When I tried to put it on, it was completely frozen. I couldn't get it on. I don't know if anyone got a picture of it. It didn't look great. But we were able to adjust it on the sideline and get it warmed up a little bit and get rolling from there."

Notably, referees did not make the Chiefs burn a timeout for Mahomes to undergo an equipment change, which is atypical. The officiating blunder mattered very little as the Dolphins were outclassed from the opening whistle.

Kansas City will play either the Buffalo Bills or Houston Texans in the Divisional Round, where Chiefs fans everywhere will hope Mahomes is able to avoid equipment-shattering hits.