The Kansas City Chiefs, regardless of sitting atop the AFC at 13-1, are actually in a conundrum because it pertains to their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. The three-time Super Bowl champion suffered a excessive ankle sprain throughout the second half of Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns and was unable to return to the competition.
CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones stories that Mahomes’ excessive ankle sprain now has him week-to-week, which begs the query of how a lot Okay.C. ought to push to get him again onto the sphere. The defending champions have already secured the AFC West crown and have a two-game lead over the Buffalo Bills for the No. 1 seed within the convention with three weeks remaining within the season. So, does Mahomes push to get again onto the sphere to lock within the No. 1 seed, or do the Chiefs go for a extra cautious strategy and sit their franchise centerpiece to have him wholesome for the postseason?
If Matt Ryan, a former league MVP and present NFL on CBS analyst, had been pulling the strings, he’d go along with the latter.
“If it was me, I might sit him,” Ryan advised CBS Sports HQ on Monday. “I believe it is most necessary to have him wholesome for the playoff stretch, and ankles are powerful. I do know he is accomplished it within the playoffs earlier than, type of performed by means of that and performed rather well with it, however these are playoff video games. I have a look at this common season, they have a two-game lead within the AFC, they have these two video games back-to-back. Maybe you may get him again for Week 18 to get a bit of rhythm heading into the playoffs, however we’ll see what the extent of what the damage is and the way he heals on it the following couple of days.
“I’d haven’t any qualms about getting him some relaxation and ensuring that he is wholesome. In my opinion, you gotta have him as recent as doable if you wish to make a run in direction of their third Super Bowl.”
Mahomes has handled a excessive ankle sprain earlier than to this very same proper ankle. That got here throughout Kansas City’s Super Bowl run in 2022, and Mahomes performed extraordinarily effectively. In the AFC Championship and Super Bowl LVII, when he was coping with the damage, Mahomes accomplished 71% of his throws with a 115.7 passer ranking.
With that in thoughts, he does have a historical past of having the ability to endure any such an damage. That mentioned, as Ryan notes, Mahomes was in a do-or-die scenario on the time of that prior damage, with it coming within the playoffs. This time round, he and the Chiefs benefit from time as he might take these remaining three weeks to heal as much as be as recent as doable for the playoff run.
