Posted on October 19, 2019, by Travis Pulver
The world came crashing down for many fantasy football players and fans of the Kansas City Chiefs Thursday night with the injury to Patrick Mahomes. Kansas City went on to win the game against the Broncos anyway. But the win meant little with the injury to Mahomes.
Matt Moore was good enough to guide the team to a win over a mediocre Broncos team. But can he do so against better competition?
As it turns out, fans will get the chance to find out over the next four to six weeks. The word Thursday during the game was that Patrick Mahomes had suffered a dislocated knee. But they didn’t know how extensive the damage to his knee was (which would impact how long he would be out).
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He was scheduled for and had an MRI on Friday. While the team didn’t provide specifics, the official word is that there was no other damage to the knee other than the dislocation.
So—how long will he be out? According to the Associated Press, he will miss the next four to six weeks as he recovers from and rehabs the injury.
Fans likely feared the worst (and screamed about the dreaded Madden Curse) when they saw Patrick Mahomes lying on the turf in obvious pain. Images of his leg bent abnormal way certainly didn’t help matters much. But after the medical staff could be seen putting his knee back in place on the field, he was able to limp to the sideline with help.
For now, Mahomes is expected to recover and eventually return to the lineup. So—what does this mean for the Chiefs?
More than likely, they can give up on the idea of having home-field advantage in the playoffs. With New England shaping up for a perfect regular season, they wouldn’t have had it anyway. For now, they are still favored to win their division at DraftKings (-335), so they are in line to still make the playoffs.
But the Raiders are within striking distance at 3-2, and the Chargers could still make a move at 2-4. Should the Chiefs struggle without Mahomes at quarterback in the coming weeks, they could lose control of the division. With the schedule they have over the next 4-6 weeks, that is entirely possible.
First up will be the Green Bay Packers next week, followed by the Minnesota Vikings. Neither would have been easy wins with Mahomes, but without, the Chiefs will surely be underdogs. Tennessee has been struggling themselves, but then they face the Chargers, Raiders, and Patriots.
It is not hard to imagine the Chiefs going 1-5 or 2-4 over that span. More than likely, they will keep Mahomes out as long as necessary to get him back to full strength rather than have him come back too soon and risk reinjury. But should they go 2-4, at 7-6, they are going to be on the outside looking in of the playoff picture.
However, if Mahomes can return and lead them to wins over the Broncos, Bears, and Chargers to end the season, a 10-6 record could be good enough for a wild card berth. As long as they make it in, they will be a threat to win it all.
So, wait a few weeks for the inevitable losses to force their odds to rise, and then bet on the Chiefs. Winning the AFC will still be tough and require them getting past the Patriots, but if they do, the payoff will be a lot nicer.