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Chiefs Officially Eliminated From Playoffs With Loss to Chargers
The Chiefs were officially eliminated from the 2025 NFL playoffs on Sunday in a disastrous loss to the Chargers that saw Patrick Mahomes go down with an injury.
Kansas City hosted Los Angeles for an AFC West clash in Week 15 and lost, 16-13. It was a brutal showing from the Chiefs in what everyone knew was a must-win game coming into the contest. Patrick Mahomes threw for 189 yards and zero touchdowns with one interception before he got injured while trying to lead the Chiefs to a comeback. He was replaced by Gardner Minshew for the team’s final drive, which ended after Minshew threw another pick.
In tandem with the Bills’ comeback win over the Patriots, the Jaguars’ easy win over the Jets and the Texans’ blowout victory over the Cardinals, the Chiefs were mathematically eliminated from the postseason. It’s the first time in Mahomes’s career that he won’t qualify for playoff football. And, for the first time since the 2018 season, the AFC Championship game will be played at a stadium other than Arrowhead.
It is not the most surprising development, though, for anyone who’s watched Kansas City this year. Injuries have taken their toll on the team’s offensive line and the receiving room GM Brett Veach put together struggled with availability; when on the field they simply were not good enough. Mahomes had flashes of excellence but played below his standards more often than not and, when it came down to it, couldn’t muscle his team over the finish line through sheer talent alone.
The Chiefs will have a lot to think about as the franchise undergoes its longest offseason since 2014, the last time Kansas City missed the postseason entirely. Meanwhile the AFC will have a new champion after three straight Chiefs Super Bowl appearances.
The playoffs this year will look strange without Mahomes.
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Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.