Thanksgiving turned sour for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as they fell 31-28 to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on November 27.
The defeat leaves the Chiefs with a 6-6 record, placing them outside the AFC playoff picture. “You’ve got to win every game now — and hope that’s enough,” Mahomes stated post-game, highlighting the urgency of their situation.
ESPN Analytics currently gives Kansas City a 47 percent chance of making the postseason, a stark contrast to their previous seasons since Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018.
“We’re going to play a lot of good teams coming up,” Mahomes noted. “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 [team facility] when we get back.”
Three of their remaining five games pit them against teams currently ahead in the AFC standings: the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos. They also face the struggling Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders.
Prior to facing the Cowboys, the Chiefs had gained momentum by defeating the AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium on November 23.
With a holiday game behind them, the Chiefs now enjoy a 10-day break before hosting the Texans on December 7. Mahomes expressed hope that this extended time off would allow injured players to recover.
“Hopefully we can get some of these guys back and get them healthy over this extended week that we have,” he said.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid refrained from attributing the loss solely to injuries, instead focusing on discipline issues within the team. “The bottom line is we’re having too many penalties, and we’ve got to make sure we take care of that,” Reid remarked after the game. “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.”
Kansas City incurred 10 penalties totaling 119 yards against Dallas, a statistic that Reid emphasized needed improvement.
Despite his frustrations, Reid acknowledged some contentious calls made by officials during the game. “I’m not always going to agree with the call, but the calls were made,” he said. “Dallas has some physical receivers, big, strong physical guys, and that’s the way they were playing.”
Reid concluded, “My guys were fighting to maintain leverage in that, and it’s just not the way I saw it, but it’s the way the referees saw it.”
