The Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff hopes took another blow with a 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football on December 7, but their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is not giving up.
Mahomes, 30, defended his head coach, Andy Reid, and his Hall of Fame-bound teammate Travis Kelce during his postgame press conference. After Kelce, 36, contemplated retirement last season, Mahomes said he is going to value the rest of the season with him, whatever he decides.
“Every season that I’ve had with him these last few years, I try to cherish because you never know,” he said after the Chiefs’ fourth loss in their last five games. “He got himself in great shape this year and he’s played great football, and he’ll have the option to do whatever he wants to do after this season.”
Kelce had a chance at a big play in the fourth quarter on Sunday with his team down by a touchdown, but dropped a pass from Mahomes that led to an interception. The Texans then connected on a field goal to put the game out of reach.
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Coming off of arguably the worst statistical season of his career in 2024, Kelce’s numbers have ticked back up this season as he tries to guide the Chiefs to a fourth Super Bowl title since 2020.
“I know one thing is he’ll give everything he has the rest of this season to try and give us a chance to make a playoff run,” Mahomes said. “We know the chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have every opportunity they get.”
Mahomes also showed his faith in Reid, 67, whose decision to have the Chiefs go for it on a fourth-and-1 from their own 31-yard line in the fourth quarter ultimately failed and led to the Texans’ go-ahead score.
“Coach Reid believes in us and we’ve executed in that same situation several times this season,” Mahomes said.
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Even as the Chiefs came up short, he said that he hasn’t lost faith in Kelce or the core of his offense.
“I’m going to go to those guys in big moments,” he said. “Those guys have made big plays in Super Bowls, they’ve made big plays in AFC Championship Games.”
He added, “[The Texans] made good plays today but I’ll never question the decision to go for it because I believe in the offense and who we are.”
Reid, for his part, said he took “full responsibility” for the failed fourth-down conversion.
“I thought we could get it,” he said. “I was confident we could do that. It’s important to take advantage of opportunities and I thought it was an opportunity. I was wrong in hindsight. I was wrong. We’ve been pretty good on fourth downs. I messed that one up.”
With their latest loss, the Chiefs’ playoff odds have plummeted to 15 percent, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. At 6-7 on the season, Kansas City has four regular season games remaining, starting at home against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, December 14.
“We’ve still got an opportunity. Even though it’s a slim opportunity, we have an opportunity,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “For us, the door is still open. It might be a 10 percent chance. It might be a 5 percent chance. But as long as we have an opportunity and a chance, we can control that, and let the cards fall where they fall.”
