Why Mahomes Is Chiefs’ Most Important Gamble This Week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There are several four-game parlays that spell doom for the Chiefs on Sunday, the franchise’s first playoff-elimination scenarios in a decade.

And while many are betting against Kansas City, the Chiefs are still betting on Patrick Mahomes. And the quarterback is betting on himself to get the most from his teammates.

Mindset is everything during adverse times

“Getting extra work in with the guys on the side, like I always do,” he said at the start of the week Wednesday. “And then when you're in that practice, in that work, you have conversations with guys and kind of keep them in the right mindset.

“But I haven't had any looks at like seeing guys down or anything like that. Obviously, you want to win, and guys hate losing. But at the end of the day, we know that we have to handle our business first. We have to win the football games, and then let the rest kind of handle itself.”

Playoff scenarios don't look good

The rest handling itself is the disconcerting factor. Even if the Chiefs beat the Chargers on Sunday (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan), they don’t know which way the playoff winds will blow. And if they lose, the F5 tornado is directly in their path, especially if the Bills, Colts, Jaguars and Texans win.

But Mahomes is from East Texas, so he knows all about tornadoes. And Chris Jones, Andy Reid and the rest of the Chiefs already have minted it on their internal currency, in Mahomes they trust.

“We're all competitors at the end of the day,” Jones said Thursday, “and even though this is new territory for us, we still have an opportunity. We still got really, really great players on this team, starting with our leaders … Listen, we got Pat Mahomes, man. Let's be honest here. We always have a chance.”

Math isn’t the only reason they still have that chance. Reid said Mahomes embraces his leadership position better than any player he’s coached.

“He's a good leader,” Reid said Wednesday. “So, there’s nothing you can do but try to get better. If you're hanging your head, you're not getting any better, and surely you’re not making anybody better, including the whole team. You're not making them better.

“We've been up and down. So, we need more consistency, and that's what we're striving to get here. We’ve had some great days, great plays, but you have to do it for four quarters in this business, and so we've got to be more consistent.”

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