Patrick Mahomes immediately set his sights on "bigger goals" after the Kansas City Chiefs sailed into the playoffs.

The reigning Super Bowl champions beat the Denver Broncos 22-16 on Sunday to secure a spot in the postseason for a franchise-record sixth successive campaign.

Kansas City boast an 11-1 record after downing Denver for the 11th time on the bounce, a streak dating back to 2015.

Mahomes finished 25 of 40 for 318 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions for the Chiefs, who are yet to clinch a fifth straight AFC West title.

And the star quarterback quickly switched focus to the challenges ahead for his side.

"It's obviously a big deal," said Mahomes, who has thrown for at least 300 yards in five consecutive games.

"Kind of your first step, you want to find a way to get into the playoffs. 

"But...we have bigger goals. We understand it's a step-by-step process."

Travis Kelce caught a touchdown as he posted his fifth consecutive season with 1,000-plus receiving yards – no other tight end in league history even has five total seasons of 1,000 receiving yards.

Kelce is also the first tight end in the Super Bowl era with 1,100-plus receiving yards in his team's first 12 games of a season. He set the previous record in 2018.

Those kind of feats are part of the reason why the Chiefs have been such a formidable proposition, with Mahomes hailing the fact they always "find ways to win".

"We're just battle-tested," he said. "We've played a lot of tight football games. We have to find ways to win.

"Obviously we didn't play the way we wanted to as far as in the red zone of executing and scoring touchdowns instead of field goals, but in this league, you've got to find a way to win.

"Every single team is going to bring their best shot and is going to have a chance to beat you and as long as you come out with the win in the end, it doesn't have to be pretty."