Patrick Mahomes‘ season is over. Kansas City’s hopes of of an 11th consecutive appearance in the postseason effectively ended in Week 14. That run officially came to an end Sunday after a 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
To add injury to insult, Mahomes went down with a knee injury late in the Week 15 matchup with the Chargers. Sunday evening the Chiefs announced that its star quarterback had suffered a torn ACL.
“An MRI has confirmed that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in today’s game,” the franchise said in a statement released Sunday. “Patrick and the club are currently exploring surgical options.”
The injury will bring an end to Mahomes’ season in a year when the Chiefs’ dynasty has looked like anything but the dominant team that has won three Super Bowl titles over the last seven seasons. Kansas City now sits at 6-8 on the season but the bigger question will be about the future of the franchise following the injury to Mahomes.
The injury to Mahomes came with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. He rolled out of the pocket on a first-and-10 play from the 47-yard line before throwing the ball out of bounds. He was tackled by Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand and landed awkwardly as he planted his left leg.
“Don’t Know Why This Had To Happen”
Mahomes took to social media to provide his own comment on the injury after the game.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “And not going to lie it’s hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Mahomes needed help from the training staff to leave the field following the injury. The nine-year signal caller immediately grabbed his knee after the play. He ultimately left with aid to the locker room to be examined. An MRI later confirmed the ACL tear.
The Chiefs have made the AFC Championship in the last seven seasons. That streak will now come to an end this year. Mahomes has been named the NFL MVP twice in his career. He earned the Super Bowl MVP award in all three of Kansas City’s championship years (2019, 2022, 2023).
Gardner Minshew II finished out the drive for the Chiefs at quarterback. The seventh-year backup quarterback threw an interception to close out the game sealing the loss for Kansas City. Moving forward, the Chiefs will likely have to turn to Minshew in the interim over the final three weeks.
“I felt very comfortable to go in and execute the offense,” Minshew said. “I hate that situation, and I hate that I couldn’t deliver and get us a win and keep our hopes alive.”
Kansas City will head to Tennessee next Sunday before hosting AFC West rival Denver on Christmas Day. The season will wrap up with a road matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Latest notable injury in the NFL
The torn ACL for Mahomes was one of two major injuries suffered by an NFL star on Sunday. Green Bay defensive end Micah Parsons went down with an apparent knee injury late in the third quarter of the Packers’ loss to Denver. Parsons was in pursuit of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix when he went down with a non-contact injury.
The fifth-year edge rusher, who is in his first season with the Packers, immediately grabbed his left knee. He had to be helped to the locker room, and it is believed that he has a torn ACL as well.
