A Sunday loss to the Los Angeles Chargers brought heartbreak to Kansas City, but the biggest blow came in the form of a devastating injury to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
According to Fox News, the Chiefs fell 16-13 at Arrowhead Stadium, officially ending their playoff hopes, and Mahomes suffered a torn ACL late in the fourth quarter.
Tight end Travis Kelce, speaking on his podcast New Heights, expressed the team’s shock and frustration.
“We lost our quarterback, Patty Mahomes, our guy, our brother, our fearless leader, our face of the franchise, to an ACL. It’s never easy seeing your guys go down. We had a bunch of guys get hurt this past game, and we fought. We fought, we had some guys fight through some stuff,” he said.
He added, “On a freakish play to see (Mahomes) go down like that, man, it was almost like it wasn’t real and s— just sucks, man. For a guy that puts in that much and puts his body on the line week in and week out… it sucks.”
Mahomes’ injury came while the Chiefs were down 16-13 and attempting a late comeback. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew entered the game and battled, though a game-sealing interception dashed the team’s playoff hopes. Kelce praised Minshew’s effort despite the outcome.
For Kelce, the loss carries added weight. The 10-time Pro Bowler had seven catches for 70 yards against the Chargers and noted that in his 13th season, he is now the only player on the roster without a regular-season game that didn’t carry playoff implications. This marks the first time the Chiefs have missed the playoffs since 2014.
Mahomes underwent surgery on both his ACL and LCL on Monday. While the recovery timeline suggests he could return at the start of next season, he will miss the final three games of the year.
Kansas City faces the Tennessee Titans next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, a contest that will be played without their franchise quarterback.
The Chiefs’ season ends with a combination of disappointment and uncertainty, as the team contemplates life without Mahomes for the remainder of 2025 while grappling with the historic nature of missing the playoffs.
