The Kansas City Chiefs have reached the AFC Championship Game in every season since Patrick Mahomes became a starter. Only Tom Brady, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts have beaten him in the playoffs. Even so, all good things come to an end, and this streak won’t be the exception to that rule.
Andy Reid’s team is 6-7 for the season. They can technically still make the playoffs, but they would need to win all four games and hope that the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts struggle in the final stretch of the season.
Even if the other AFC contenders fail to take care of business, the Chiefs’ chances of winning the final four games don’t seem great right now. They’re banged up, and they’ve struggled to get stops down the stretch. That’s why even Patrick Mahomes knows they might be done already.
Patrick Mahomes doesn’t seem too confident in the Chiefs’ playoff chances.
"At the end of the day, we know that we've got to handle our business first. We've got to win the football games and the rest handle itself,” the former Super Bowl MVP told the media, per Chiefs insider Charles Goldman. "I always want to win. I don't know what the percentages are, but I know they're not high. I think it'd be special to get into the playoffs and make a run," he added.
Mahomes had the worst statistical performance of his career in the loss to the Houston Texans. It wasn’t entirely on him, though, as his receivers struggled with drops. Even Travis Kelce, once his most reliable pass catcher, dropped a pass that wound up being the game-sealing interception.
They will now face off with the Chargers for the second time this season. Justin Herbert is banged up and will play behind one of the worst -- if not the worst -- offensive lines in football, but Jim Harbaugh’s team is coming off a big win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs reek of desperation right now, and it might be too late to straighten the course of the ship at this point in the season.
It’s never wise to count out Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, but given the way this team has operated and the crucial injuries on the offensive line, they will have to climb quite a big hill to earn another chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy at the end of the season.