Patrick Mahomes Suffers Season Ending Knee Injury in Defeat
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Patrick Mahomes kept fighting and fighting until his knee and leg finally gave out. Week 15 was absolute ectasy for some but absolute brutality for others. Fantasy owners of Mahomes knew it was bad when players were praying on the field.
Sadly, the Kansas City Chiefs confirmed our much feared suspicions later Sunday evening.
Injury Update on QB Patrick Mahomes:
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 15, 2025
An MRI has confirmed that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in today’s game. Patrick and the club are currently exploring surgical options.
Of course, once this part was revealed, that was when the speculation hounds ran overdrive. The most obvious part is this. What else is wrong with the knee?
Lending Some Fantasy Perspective To This
Having a night to digest all this means combing through all the reactions and well wishes. Mahomes' knee buckled in a way no knee is ever meant to. The obvious is that the quarterback will not throw another pass in 2025.
The mere fact that Mahomes and the team are exploring their surgical options is never encouraging. Keep in mind that the signal caller just turned 30 and has played a ton of football. Again, the Chiefs had made the playoffs every single year he started. It is even harder to believe how fierce he bursted onto the scene in 2018.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in 11 years pic.twitter.com/0J0De3MUnr
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) December 15, 2025
2018 Patrick Mahomes is not 2025 Patrick Mahomes. From a fantasy perspective, the quarterback was throwing a lot of passes. He was on pace to throw over 600 attempts. Mahomes would have easily gone over the 4,000 yard mark. However, this might have been one of his worst fantasy outputs.
Pro Football Reference using an Approximate Value metric and it is interesting. Mahomes was at 19 in 2022 and last year dropped to 14. His TD to INT ratio was slipping. Mistakes were more common and this year he had one late comeback win compared to five in 2024. His accolades are numerous but was Mahomes trying to do too much?
So There is That Fear
A lot of the game that Mahomes possesses is pinned on mobility. Kansas City did not have the best of offensive lines at the time of his injury. Injuries catch up to teams and consider again the amount of football this team has played together. Mahomes has played in 21 playoff games (going 17-4 by the way). That is an extra season plus of added wear and tear.
The fear is he is not ready for the 2026 season or worse, cannot play close to the level he is accustomed to. Now, that is why the course of action is most crucial here even from a fantasy perspective.
It will be interesting to see what Mahomes ultimately decides. Does he go with one of the three tendons (patellar, hamstring, quad) or does his surgery team go another direction? That may tell us a lot on how complicated this surgery becomes and chances for a full return in 2026.
The Short And The Long
As well wishes piled in, it is clear that Mahomes was trying to do much in 2025. The short term impact downgrades every fantasy option from the Kansas City Chiefs. Gardner Minshew probably finishes out the season but Travis Kelce might even feel the impact too. Defenses are going to tee off on the Chiefs as Minshew has nowhere near the mobility of a Mahomes.
With injuries mounting, the running game suffers too. The Chiefs ran 21 times for 49 yards on Sunday. Mahomes scrambled twice for 15 yards and even scored a touchdown. Unfortunately, too many things came to a head at once in Week 15 for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fantasy implications from this are even longer ranging in the long term. If one owns Mahomes in any keeper dynasty league, monitor this more heavily than you would typically. That is because the right decision is likely the one that is most comprehensive and takes the greatest time to recover. It is something no fantasy owner of Mahomes wants to hear but needs to.
