Are the Kansas City Chiefs going to miss the playoffs for the first time in quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ career?
After losing another one-score game to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, their sixth one-score loss in seven tries, the Chiefs are 6-6 and remain outside of the playoff picture as the ninth seed.
It just seems like everything is falling apart for Kansas City, including their offensive line. Standout rookie left tackle Josh Simmons suffered a broken wrist and has no timetable to return, and tackle Jawaan Taylor also left the game with an injury.
Thanksgiving started out great for the Chiefs, with Mahomes hitting star receiver Rashee Rice for a 27-yard score, his first of two touchdowns. Dallas answered with a touchdown of their own before Travis Kelce scored with one second remaining in the opening frame.
The Cowboys would score 13 unanswered points by the third quarter, taking a 20-14 lead into the fourth. Rice would score his second touchdown, this time from three yards out, to take a one-point lead. Dallas would answer again, converting on their two-point conversion to go up seven, followed by a Brandon Aubrey field goal to take a commanding 10-point lead with just over five minutes remaining.
Hollywood Brown caught a 10-yard pass for a touchdown less than two minutes later, but the Cowboys chewed the rest of the clock and walked away with the win.
This was a must win game for Kansas City in my opinion as it will be difficult to make up ground down the stretch. They aren’t out of it by any means as only one-and-a-half-games separates Kansas City from the seventh-seeded Buffalo Bills, but it’s not going to be easy.
Kansas City has to play the Houston Texans, who are above them in the standings, in Week 14, Los Angeles Chargers (ahead in standings) in Week 15, Tennessee Titans in Week 16, Denver Broncos (leads division) in Week 17 and Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
Two of those matchups, the Titans and Raiders, should be massive wins. But drawing the Texans, Chargers and Broncos, all teams that Kansas City is chasing, is tough but also kind of a good thing for the team.
The Chiefs control their destiny and if they can win out, they stand a good chance of sneaking into the playoffs. Mahomes stated before the Cowboys game that the team gets to write their story the rest of the way, and what a storybook ending it would be if everyone counted the Chiefs out and they still found a way to get in. Getting in is half the battle.