In what has been a tumultuous season for the Kansas City Chiefs, it has reached its peak. Patrick Mahomes went down holding his knee. With their season on the line, there’s no one they’d rather have leading their team than Mahomes. Instead, he suffered a scary injury that is catastrophic for the future of the Chiefs.
What Happened to Patrick Mahomes?
On what looked like a simple throwaway by Mahomes, leading their most important drive of the season, his left knee buckled, and he was down in a heap of pain. It’s a scary sight, and Mahomes headed right to the blue tent. The left knee had been a lingering issue and appeared to have just reached its breaking point.
Chiefs fans held their breath as they awaited news on their franchise hero. Head coach Andy Reid confirmed that Mahomes suffered a knee injury and said, “It didn’t look good.”
Gardner Minshew is warming up for Chiefs pic.twitter.com/p9f28e61gi
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 14, 2025
A couple of hours after the game, the Chiefs officially announced that Mahomes had torn his ACL. “An MRI has confirmed that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in today’s game,” the Chiefs wrote on X. “Patrick and the club are currently exploring surgical options.”
Mahomes is the biggest loss that any team could face. He is the heartbeat of the Kansas City offense, and his greatness masks many holes in the Chiefs’ offense. He ranks 12th in PFSN’s QB Impact score with a grade of 77.6. He missed key weapons at times and looked to keep the offense afloat until they returned. They hit a groove after their return, but then fell apart over the last few games.
It would be interesting to see a Chiefs team featuring Mahomes with nothing to play for. Now, they may just play it out with Gardner Minshew.
For what it’s worth, you can do far worse than Minshew as a backup. Assuming the Chiefs still play their healthy players, Rashee Rice should still be okay with the former Jaguars QB under center. However, this offense obviously takes a massive hit.
Fantasy managers with Mahomes were already questioning whether to start him. Now, it seems like the decisions have been made for us.
Minshew could not finish what Mahomes started. The game-winning drive came to a halt after Minshew threw an interception as the Chiefs aimed to keep their season alive. Instead, they will be at home during the postseason for the first time since 2014. Now, it’s likely that Minshew will have the ball for the rest of the year.
The Chiefs have a long offseason ahead with plenty of internal observations to conduct. The road back to the playoffs begins already, and Kansas City will have its sights set on appearing in its fourth Super Bowl in five years. It should be a new-look team with a hungry Mahomes ready to prove this season was simply a fluke.
Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.
