Patrick Mahomes has downplayed suggestions the Kansas City Chiefs are receiving favourable decisions from NFL referees amid their bid to win a historic third straight Super Bowl.

The Houston Texans were controversially penalised for two hits on Mahomes during last week’s 23-14 defeat to Kansas City in the Divisional Round.

Will Anderson Jr was flagged for roughing the passer on third-and-eight to extend a first-quarter drive ending in a Harrison Butker field goal, before Henry To’oTo’o was harshly punished for unnecessary roughness on a scrambling Mahomes during a second-half drive culminating in Travis Kelce’s touchdown catch.

It provoked a frustrated reaction from defensive end Anderson Jr, who said post-game he “knew it was going to be us versus the refs.”

“I don’t feel that way,” Mahomes said in response to reporters on Wednesday. “I just try to play football at the end of the day. The referees are doing their best to call the game as fair and proper as they can.

“For me, it’s go out there, play hard, try to do whatever I can to win the football game, and then live with the results based on my effort and how I play the game, and that’s what we preach here in Kansas City.”

“You get new referees every year. You get new circumstances, and you never can really tell because every play is different, and that’s what makes the NFL so special. I feel like I just continue to play the game. I just try to win.”

Mahomes and the Chiefs will play in their seventh consecutive AFC Championship Game on Sunday when they take on Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills, against whom they are 3-0 in the playoffs in one of the NFL’s great modern rivalries.

Allen is seeking to reach the Super Bowl for the first time after the Bills held off Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in last weekend’s Divisional Round clash, with Mark Andrews dropping a late two-point conversion. The Bills quarterback has a 4-1 record over Mahomes in the regular season, notably scoring a 26-yard fourth-quarter touchdown to lead Buffalo to a 30-21 victory when the two sides met in Week 11.

Andy Reid’s side are bidding to become the first team ever to win the Super Bowl three times in a row having beaten the San Francisco 49ers in overtime in Las Vegas last February.

Watch the Philadelphia Eagles against the Washington Commanders in the NFC Championship Game live on Sky Sports NFL from 8pm Sunday, followed by the Chiefs against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game from 11.30pm