ARLINGTON, Texas — Following yet another one-score loss for the Kansas City Chiefs, this time falling 31-28 to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, quarterback Patrick Mahomes summed up the team’s bleak predicament.
«You’ve got to win every game now — and hope that’s enough,» Mahomes said of the Chiefs’ attempt to make the postseason with just five games left in the regular season.
With a 6-6 record, and outside the AFC’s playoff picture, the Chiefs’ chances of clinching a postseason berth dropped Thursday from 63% to 47%, according to ESPN Analytics. All five games left on the Chiefs’ schedule, starting Dec. 7 against the Houston Texans, will be against AFC opponents, too. Mahomes understands that every game for the Chiefs is essentially a play-in game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
«We’re going to play a lot of good teams coming up,» Mahomes said. «If we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to win them all. That’s got to be the mindset when we step into the [training facility] when we get back.»
Just four days ago, the Chiefs felt they secured a pivotal win — and their most impressive one of their season — when they rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Indianapolis Colts.
The Chiefs even started Thursday’s game well. A blitz from the Chiefs on the opening possession led to cornerback Jaylen Watson intercepting quarterback Dak Prescott. The turnover set up Mahomes’ 27-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rashee Rice. In fact, in his first NFL start in AT&T Stadium, a little more than 100 miles from Tyler, Texas, his hometown, Mahomes threw four touchdown passes and often used his legs to escape the pocket.
But Thursday was the first time in the Mahomes era — since 2018, when became the starter — that the Chiefs fell in a game when their quarterback threw at least four touchdown passes and didn’t commit an interception, according to ESPN Research. Prior to Thursday, the Chiefs were a perfect 12-0 in such games.
«We can beat anybody, but we’ve shown that we can lose to anybody,» Mahomes said. «We’ve got to be more consistent. We’ve had big plays and we’ve had runs where we can really score at any time, but we’ve got to be consistent for four quarters, especially when you play good teams and they have a good offense.»
For much of the second half, Mahomes operated the Chiefs offense without his starting right tackle (Jawaan Taylor) and left tackle (rookie Josh Simmons). Taylor, a seven-year veteran, missed the second half with a strained left triceps.
And Mahomes is expected to be without Simmons, the Chiefs’ first-round pick, for an extended period of time. Late in the third quarter, Simmons left the game with a left wrist injury. Simmons exited the locker room with a cast on his left wrist and his arm in a sling. Test results showed that Simmons sustained a dislocated and fractured left wrist, according to a source.
The Chiefs also began the game without Trey Smith, who sustained a sprained right ankle against the Colts. Mahomes, though, was still able to lead the Chiefs to two touchdown drives with Jaylon Moore as his right tackle and Wanya Morris as the left tackle.
«Hopefully we can get some of these guys back and get them healthy over this extended week that we have,» Mahomes said of the Chiefs’ having 10 days to rest and recover before they host the Texans.
Thursday’s game was also the third time this season in which Mahomes watched the opposing offense run out the clock while leading by one-score on the scoreboard.
The Chiefs’ defense struggled against the Cowboys’ potent passing attack. Prescott was never sacked, and the Chiefs’ pressure didn’t affect him much. Prescott was pressured on 36 percent of his dropbacks, his third-highest pressure percentage in a game this season, according to Next Gen Stats. But Prescott, who finished with 320 passing yards and two touchdowns, responded by completing 11 of his 14 attempts while under duress, his most such completions in a game in his 10-year career.
Whether longtime defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo blitzed or didn’t, his unit allowed a season-high nine conversions on 3rd down, which tied for the second-most in a regular season game under Spagnuolo, who joined the team in 2019. Watson and fellow cornerback Trent McDuffie couldn’t effectively cover CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, Cowboys’ two best receivers.
«The rush and coverage got to work together, and we’ve got to figure out a way to get them off the field,» defensive end George Karlaftis said. «That’s on the defense. We’ve got a few days off and we’ve got to dig deep now.»
Once again, in another close loss, coach Andy Reid and just about every player in the Chiefs’ locker room mentioned one disappointing factor: penalties. The Chiefs committed 10 penalties for 119 yards, their most in a game since Week 14 of 2019 in a win over the New England Patriots (136).
«The bottom line is we’re having too many penalties, and we’ve got to make sure we take care of that,» Reid said. «No excuses with it. We’ll work on cleaning it up. The guys know. They understand we’ve got to clean up a few things.
«We’ve got to do better as coaches. We’ve got to do better as players. You go back to the drawing board and you keep working.»
