Patrick Mahomes exited Sunday’s game with an apparent knee injury and, shortly after, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ decade-long postseason streak came to an end.
The Chiefs were trailing 16-13 with just under two minutes to go when Mahomes scrambled toward the Kansas City sideline, threw the ball away and was spun to the ground by Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.
Mahomes remained down on the field in pain while being tended to by the team’s medical staff. He was helped off the field, putting some weight on his leg, and entered the blue medical tent before being helped back to the locker room.
Mahomes was replaced by backup Gardner Minshew with just under two minutes remaining and the Chiefs needing a field goal to even the score and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Minshew got the Chiefs into field-goal range with some short completions before being intercepted by Derwin James on a second-down play at the Chargers 39-yard-line with 14 seconds remaining.
After the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said the injury “didn’t look good.” Mahomes will have an MRI to determine the severity.
The Chiefs, the defending AFC champions, fell to 6-8 on the season. The loss officially snapped their 10-season streak of reaching the playoffs, which was the second longest in league history behind only the New England Patriots from 2009 to 2019.