For Mahomes, the 2017 NFL Draft No. 10 overall pick, it will be the first postseason of his career in which he will not participate. He has been eliminated after never being shut out in overtime in the AFC Championship Game in any season in his career as a starting QB (since 2018).
Mahomes isn’t the only manager who will experience his first season at home. Three-time All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones, three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Creed Humphrey, linebacker Nick Bolton and defensive end George Karlaftis and on and on have all won multiple Super Bowls and never had an empty January. That all changes after Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.
How amazing the princes’ run of glory has been can now perhaps be taken in after its end.
Among the streaks that officially ended on Sunday afternoon in Week 15:
- The Chiefs were one of only four teams to advance to three consecutive Super Bowls.
- Kansas City’s seven straight championship streak is the second-longest streak in the Super Bowl era (behind only the Patriots’ eight straight from 2011-18).
- Mahomes’ seven consecutive title game streak is second all-time behind only Tom Brady’s eight.
- KC’s 10 straight playoff berths trail only Brady and the Patriots’ 11 straight from 2009-2019.
- The Chiefs had won a playoff game in seven straight seasons — again, second only to the Patriots’ eight straight postseasons from 2011-2018.
Just what’s next for the Chiefs will now be the dilemma that hangs over the franchise and the NFL landscape, for that matter, this offseason.
Is future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, one of the biggest stars in the league, calling it quits after weighing his future last year and returning to such a disappointing campaign?
Will the 67-year-old Reid, whose 28 playoff wins remain second only to Bill Belichick’s (31), just as he will win six conference championships, return? Reid has been dogged by retirement questions in each of the team’s last two Super Bowl runs. They are likely to be asked even more now.
For a decade, the Chiefs were stuck in the postseason. For the past seven seasons, they have been a staple of the Super Bowl movie. After Week 15 Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs’ run to glory has come to an end.