Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, their possibility of being entirely eliminated from the NFL playoffs is closer than it may have appeared, too. It's Week 15, they're hosting the Los Angeles Chargers, and their season can all end on Sunday.
How?
If the Chiefs lose, they are officially eliminated from the playoffs.
ESPN shared that factoid in its preview of the game on Friday.
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Patrick Mahomes has never missed the playoffs in his career. But the Chiefs, already 6-7, are on the brink.
The Chargers are in better position, so they'll be playing hard to try to ensure their best chance of getting into the postseason.
It has a chance to be a phenomenal football game, but the Chiefs will need to really play their best to have any chance of keeping this season alive.
"We're in unprecedented territory," Mahomes told reporters this week. "I think you lean on the guys that have battled through adversity and came out better on the other side. That's Chris [Jones], Travis [Kelce], all of these guys that have won championships. It hasn't always been pretty, but it'll really test us to see what type of character we have. I think we got the guys in the room to do it."
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On the other side, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh summed it up by saying that these are two teams "fighting for their football lives."
In this case, the Chiefs are just trying to keep their pulse.
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