Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are facing the Houston Texans in Week 14 in a game the team has to win if it wants to remain in the playoff hunt.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are 6-6 on the season, and on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race.
They are two games behind the other wild card teams, and they don't own the tiebreakers agains those teams. If the Chiefs are going to make it back to the playoffs, they are most likely going to need to run the table and win their final five games.
In order to do that, they are going to need Mahomes to be as good as he ever has in his career.
The first game in that stretch will be next Sunday against a Houston Texans team that is playing as well as any team in the NFL.
To make things worse, they have as good of defensive line as there is in the NFL. The Chiefs, on the other hand, could be down three starters on the offensive line.
All-pro guard Trey Smith and Jawaan Taylor were out against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Then, during that game, Josh Simmons suffered a wrist injury in that game that could force him to miss rest of regular season.
Andy Reid said that Taylor and Smith were improving, but that decisions on those guys will be made later in the week.
The thought of a Mahomes led team not making the playoffs is something no one would have thought to be true at the beginning of the year. However, that is a legitimate possibility, and the only way for that not to happen is for Mahomes to remind the league who he really is.
In that game against the Cowboys, Mahomes had one of his better games of the season. He went 23-of-34 for 261 yards and four touchdowns, despite his stars like Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice dropping passes that could have changed the entire game.
Mahomes throughout the years has done a good job of saving his legs for later in the season, and he is going to have to make plays with his legs against the Texans.
The Chiefs are the champions of the AFC, but they are up against the cage right now. The rest of the conference is looking to deliver that final knockout blow. Throughout his career, Mahomes time and time again has fought back and put the team on his back.
However, the challenge has never been like it is right now, and the Chiefs need him to deliver at an MVP level the rest of the way.