First elimination from the playoffs, then the horror diagnosis: on the worst day of his career, football star Patrick Mahomes suffered a cruciate ligament rupture and now faces a long break. After the Kansas City Chiefs’ 13-16 home defeat in their NFL clash with the Los Angeles Chargers, an MRI scan confirmed the fears that Mahomes had injured his left knee shortly before the end of the game.
“I don’t know why this had to happen,” the 30-year-old wrote on social media: “And I’m not going to lie, it hurts. But now we can only trust in God and fight every day.” The three-time Super Bowl champion thanked the fans and everyone “who reached out and prayed for me.” He said he would “come back stronger than ever.”

Mahomes, who has been spared serious injuries so far, is scheduled to undergo surgery in the coming days. It remains to be seen whether he will be fit in time for the new season.

Kansas City, led by star players Mahomes and Travis Kelce, will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2014/15 season. The loss to the Chargers was their eighth in 16 games. With their direct rivals, the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, all winning, the Chiefs were mathematically out of contention. This marks the end of a glorious era: the Missouri team had appeared in five Super Bowls in the last six NFL seasons, winning the title three times.

After Mahomes was taken out of the game, Gardner Minshew took over, and his interception in the final seconds sealed the Chiefs’ fate. Ten consecutive playoff appearances was the second-longest streak in NFL history. The record is now held by the New England Patriots, who qualified eleven times in a row between 2009 and 2019.