By Brandon Simmons
What Does a Chiefs Elimination Actually Mean for Anybody?
The Kansas City Chiefs have been officially eliminated from the playoffs and many questions are going to either be answered or not have the response certain fans want to hear. Sunday, the Chiefs got beat 16-13 by the Los Angeles Chargers at home, in a game where they also lost Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a season-ending ACL tear. With Kansas City out of it this year, a lot of eyes are looking around at different teams.
This season’s AFC postseason picture is probably as wide open as it’s ever been in a while. Sure there is the Buffalo Bills, but the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots boast a strong showing of young talent, despite their lack of quality playoff experience. They are followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans. Each sort of fits a mold of solid defense with a dynamic QB. It’s really going to be about who rises to the top with the best of either component. That sounds so basic but the past decade has had Patrick Mahomes in the postseason so that logic never mattered. He was dynamic n on a bad day and lifted those Chiefs teams to multiple Super Bowls. Now the mystery resides in who will step into that spot this year.
In all honesty, cut the crap and just say we’re waiting to see what Josh Allen is going to do. Nobody else has been heralded more in the past 2 seasons than the Buffalo Bills QB. The reigning MVP has been labeled as a dual threat superstar poised to knock off the modern dynasty that is the Kansas City Chiefs. First there was Joe Burrow, then it seemed like Lamar Jackson, but deep down people might have always felt Allen would be the only QB who could rival Mahomes such as Peyton Manning was to Tom Brady. The NFL loves a good rivalry and hasn’t really had one since Manning and Brady retired, so this would be the perfect reimagining for a new audience.
Mahomes Injury Might be the Most Important Ever in History
As mentioned previously, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes suffered a season-ending knee injury. It happened in the 4h quarter of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers when Mahomes scrambled on a play, and threw the ball away, but his knee buckled as he threw the ball away. An MRI revealed that Mahomes did tear his ACL and he will be seeking a 2nd opinion. However, the primary opinion of who the Chiefs are could drastically change.
Patrick Mahomes has driven the Kansas City Chiefs with his best ability, which is availability, but now that has been tampered down for now. This is first major injury that he has suffered and it came at one of the more intriguing times for the Chiefs in the Mahomes era. Kansas City was just booted playoff contention and a week after losing the opportunity to compete for a division title. They are coming off a Super bowl appearance, but it was one where they got beat down by the Philadelphia Eagles, a team they previously beat for the title a couple of years prior. Their regular seasons have felt a little bit human for them, especially this year. They started 0-3 and suffered devastating losses to the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans, 2 teams they beat in the playoffs on their way to last season’s Super Bowl.
Mahomes is expected to have surgery soon and will be questionable to start next season. With that uncertainty, brings another rough start for the Chiefs and will require them to do some serious retooling for their roster. First, it’s going to start with finding a quality backup QB, that can hold them above water for a few games. Their biggest move would be finding a running back. Mahomes can be dangerous getting out of the pocket but he should not be the team’s second leading rusher as he has been this season. The Chiefs need to go after a running back that fits the speed of their offense but also provides the durability for extended ground game work. With the possible changing of the roster, it might be a while before the Chiefs jumo right back to their championship prowess. To make these moves, a few people might be moved, skipped out on for new contracts or time will run out on their careers. So a once mighty Chiefs dynasty could fade out and opave the way for a new football powerhouse.
Burrow Doesn’t Need to Play anymore This Year
Monday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced QB Joe Burrow will play the rest of the season and thought it was an actual good idea. Burrow just returned to the lineup a few weeks ago, coming off of a turf toe injury, one of his many injuries in his short career. Cincy is already out of the playoffs, so there’s nothing to really play for. Looking around the league, a lot of teams are experiencing injuries with their start players, and a couple of these are very serious. Burrow has put up some good numbers since returning but that production means nothing more than helping someone win a fantasy football title. The last thing the Bengals want to do is injure their most important asset, who just missed most of the season because of injury. Burrow has proven his point of playing at a igh level despite his injury but the team has to sit him down to prevent any further incidents.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Asante Samuel, Jr. The Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, who was recently signed to the practice squad last month, made his first start for the team this past Monday, and got an interception in the process. It was just one of the big plays that led to the Steelers 28-15 win over the Miami Dolphins
Shut out to knee injuries. In addition to Mahomes’ devastating knee injury, Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons tore his ACL on Sunday and will miss the rest of the year. It’s always unfortunate when these things happen, especially at the end of the year. Prayers for a speedy recovery for these guys and any other serious injury that might have gine under the radar.
Week 16 is here to jump start a lot of holiday vacations. The Denver Broncos host the Jacksonville Jaguars as both teams need a win to remain atop their own divisions. The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers will meet to gain control of the NFC North. Game of the week belongs to the Seattle Seahawks hosting the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football for control of the NFC West. Rams won the first matchup so the Seahawks are hungry for revenge, especially now that homefield advantage is on the line. But until then…I’ll holla.
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