The Kansas City Chiefs, the dominant NFL team of recent years, don’t even make it into the playoffs – and lose injured superstar Patrick Mahomes with a torn cruciate ligament.
Catastrophe for the Kansas City Chiefs: The team around quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce is out of the National Football League (NFL) playoff race after a 13:16 defeat against the Los Angeles Chargers.
In the past ten seasons, the Chiefs have always reached the postseason and won the Super Bowl three times.
With only six wins and eight defeats, the dominator of the past few years has no chance of making the playoffs of the current season with three games before the end of the season.
A brilliant time in the NFL comes to an end for the Kansas City Chiefs
The game against the Chargers was a reflection of the season: Even a 13-3 lead after a touchdown by Mahomes and two field goals by Harrison Butker were not enough to win.
Because the direct competitors Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars also won, the last theoretical chance is gone.
This marks the end of an illustrious time: The team from Missouri had recently been to the Super Bowl five times in six NFL seasons and won the title three times.
NFL superstar Mahomes tore cruciate ligament
To make matters worse, Mahomes was injured with two minutes left in the game. The two-time MVP was taken to the treatment tent and only with help did he get to the Chiefs locker room. Later came the devastating diagnosis: a torn cruciate ligament and a break of several months.
Gardner Minshew took over at quarterback, but his interception in the final seconds sealed the Chiefs’ fate.
Ten consecutive playoff appearances are the second-longest streak in NFL history. The record is now held by the New England Patriots, who qualified eleven times in a row between 2009 and 2019. (sid/dpa)
