Following their loss to the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared a harsh reality regarding the team’s playoff hopes.
"You've got to win every game now -- and hope that's enough," Mahomes said. "We're going to play a lot of good teams coming up," Mahomes said. "If we're going to make the playoffs, we're going to have to win them all. That's got to be the mindset when we step into the [training facility] when we get back."
It’s almost unfathomable that the Chiefs, who have played in three straight Super Bowls, could miss the playoffs, but it’s a real possibility now. They sit at 6-6 following the loss to Dallas, and if the postseason started today, they’d be on the outside looking in.
But, the playoffs don’t start today and the Chiefs still have five games left to play and as Mahomes alluded to, they’ll likely need to win all five of those games to at least give themselves a chance to extend their postseason streak to 11. Those five games will come against the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders.
The key for the Chiefs moving forward? Consistency.
"We can beat anybody, but we've shown that we can lose to anybody," Mahomes said. "We've got to be more consistent. We've had big plays and we've had runs where we can really score at any time, but we've got to be consistent for four quarters, especially when you play good teams and they have a good offense."
Mahomes has never missed the playoffs in his career, so this is extremely unfamiliar territory for him. You know that he'll do everything in his power to keep his playoff streak alive, but will it be enough? We'll find out in the coming weeks.