The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Following their 20-10 Week 14 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football, the Chiefs are just 6-7 on the season and currently sit outside of the playoff picture in the AFC. They currently have the same record as the Miami Dolphins, who started the season with a 2-7 record.
At this point, the Chiefs have only about a 15 percent chance of making the playoffs. If they fail to do so, it will be the first time since 2014 that Kansas City didn’t qualify for postseason play, and the first time in Mahomes’ career.
After the loss to the Texans, Mahomes weighed in on Kansas City’s playoff hopes, acknowledging that they’re slim, but adding that the team doesn’t plan to stop fighting.
"We know the chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have every opportunity they get," Mahomes said. "You're just getting late in the season, and you're not going to get these opportunities back. That's a good team, but we had chances. We didn't execute at the right time to win it."
The Chiefs have four games remaining in the regular season. Those games come against the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs will likely have to win out in order to give themselves at fighting chance, and even then they’ll probably need some outside help from other teams in the hunt.
"Listen, it's never over, so you keep battling," Chiefs head coach Reid said. "I've been doing this a long time. I've seen some things, so you keep going."
Given their collective resume, the Chiefs aren’t a team that you count out early, especially with Mahomes under center. But, the team’s staggering streak of seven straight AFC Championship appearances is in serious jeopardy.