The Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Houston Texans in their Week 14 showdown dealt a huge blow to the team’s playoff chances.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs suffered a 20-10 defeat at the hands of the Texans, with last year’s Super Bowl contenders unable to put up much of a fight against the NFL’s best defense. Kansas City could only muster one touchdown — a Kareem Hunt rushing TD in the third quarter.
Mahomes completed less than half of his passes (14 of 33) for an abysmal 160 yards. He was also intercepted three times and sacked twice, as the Chiefs dropped to 7-6 on the season.
The Chiefs remain 10th in the AFC standings, but their playoff chances dropped to 15% from over 30% entering the showdown, per the NFL.
Not only are the Chiefs no longer winning the AFC West for the first time since 2015, but they are also on track to miss the playoffs for the first time since Mahomes took over as starting QB in 2018.
Despite their slim chances, however, Chiefs defensive star Chris Jones is not ready to give up just yet. He said as much while talking to reporters postgame.
“We’ve got to finish strong,” Jones said in a message for the Chiefs, according to Charles Goldman of AtoZ Sports. “For us, the door is still open. As long as we’ve got an opportunity or a chance, we control that. Finish strong and let the cards fall where they fall.”
While the Chiefs are not yet eliminated, they will need everything to go in their favor for a chance to get into the playoffs. They have four games remaining against the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders, and they will need to win all of those matchups.
A 10-7 record would give the Chiefs a fighting chance, but they can’t afford to end up tied with the No. 5 Buffalo Bills, No. 6 Chargers and No. 7 Texans since those three teams have the tiebreaker advantage by virtue of their head-to-head records.
