How Chiefs Reacted to Elimination From Postseason

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chris Jones was dealing with a lot on Sunday.

Constant injuries to his teammates, a Patrick Mahomes injury and even his own injury, not to mention the Chiefs’ painful 16-13 loss to the Chargers. So, forgive him if he didn’t hear the other bad news on Sunday.

“Are we out of the playoffs?” Jones asked reporters after the game. “We are?”

Watch Chris Jones discuss below...

In fact, the Chiefs’ loss was only a quarter of the quadruple parlay that evaporated Kansas City’s playoff hopes by 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. Buffalo rallied to beat New England, Jacksonville took care of the Jets and Houston topped Arizona, the combination of which mathematically doomed the Chiefs.

The All-Pro defensive tackle took a few seconds to feel the gravity that the Chiefs would be home for the first time in his NFL career, then he responded.

“Every year is a journey,” he said. “And success is rented every year. Every year, you get to rent success, and sometimes it don't go the way you plan for it to go.

“I think we learned a lot this year, and we understand the fact that in order to be successful, man, it's an everyday thing.”

Humphrey focuses on finishing well in short term

The Chiefs’ All-Pro on the other side of the line, center Creed Humphrey said the team has to focus on closing the season in a professional manner.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Humphrey said, “but we have three games left, so you can either you can take it one of two ways. You can mope around, cry about it, or you can come in ready to work and get ready these next three weeks. So, I think we have the guys that are going to come in and be ready for the next three weeks.”

reid, harbaug — Dec 14, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, left, and Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh shake hands following a Chargers victory at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Those next three weeks – at Tennessee, home to Denver and at Las Vegas – will be the first games Kansas City has played while eliminated from playoff contention in 11 years.

“Listen, all in all, we came up short,” head coach Andy Reid said. “On both sides of the ball and special teams, we had a few mistakes. And that ends up costing you against a good football team.

“I appreciate the effort of the guys and stepping up, playing hard and aggressive. At some positions, we had backup guys to backup guys, and they battled their tail off. So that's appreciated.”

But most thoughts were with Patrick Mahomes. Just over three hours after the game, the Chiefs confirmed that their quarterback had sustained a torn left ACL.

“Yeah, it's very frustrating,” said Gardner Minshew, next in line to start for the Chiefs. “It's been hard to watch, for Pat. That dude put so much into it.

“I don't think I've ever respected anybody I played with more. I've never seen anybody I played with give so much of themselves to the team. And to not get the results is hard. But I have more confidence in him than anybody to come back and be better than ever.”

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