If it felt like Patrick Mahomes was running for his metaphorical football life more often this season, that's because he was.
The Kansas City Chiefs' superstar quarterback has faced pressure in recent years, and this season in particular, that he never did before.
On Sunday, that culminated in a torn ACL for Mahomes. His season is over, and his status for Week 1 of 2026 is already in doubt.
The stats back up what the eyes have said.
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ESPN's Bill Barnwell shared this insight on Monday in a deep dive into Mahomes and what his injury means for the Chiefs' future: "Including sacks and quarterback knockdowns, Mahomes had been hit 153 times this season, a figure topped only by Justin Herbert, the quarterback on the other side of the field Sunday. That was a career-high through 14 games. The 30-year-old has been hit 27% more often over the past two years than he had over his first six seasons as an NFL starter."
Ouch.
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The Chiefs have truly not done enough on the offensive line, and injuries in recent weeks meant Mahomes was working behind an even more patchwork unit than usual.
Coupled with receivers who don't get as open as some of Mahomes' favorite targets used to, he's had a real rough go of it at just trying to do his job to the best of his ability.
Mahomes could've gotten hurt even behind a much better offensive line while taking many fewer hits.
But this ending summarizes the Chiefs' season. They couldn't do enough for Mahomes, and in the end, even his cape wasn't enough to prevent disaster.
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- Trevor Lawrence had a game never before done by an NFL quarterback
- A Travis Kelce retirement hint is coming
- Micah Parsons' injury doesn't look good
- Patrick Mahomes' injury has fans asking Tom Brady ACL question
- Commanders' All-Pro puts down fans' draft order concerns