3 Kansas City Chiefs most to blame for Patrick Mahomes latest tough injury luck

The Kansas City Chiefs result on Sunday was never really in doubt, as they defeated the Cleveland Browns by multiple scores and took another step towards clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and thus homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Just as the Chiefs were wrapping up a victory, the unthinkable occurred – Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury on a meaningless drop-back late in the fourth quarter. It's similar in every way to the ailment Mahomes suffered just a season ago before Kansas City went on its second-straight Super Bowl run.

Mahomes history with this injury in particular make the possibility of another such ailment all the scarier for Chiefs fans.

"It's hard to say right now,'' Mahomes said after the game. "You still [have the] adrenaline rolling and usually it's kind of the day after when you kind of get a good sense of it. I feel like I could have finished the game in different circumstances, but I thought the smart decision ... was to put Carson Wentz in.

Wentz is a capable backup, but for now, the Chiefs will be holding their breath about Mahomes availability in the weeks to come.

3. Brett Veach hasn't addressed the Chiefs biggest problem

Brett Veach as tried and failed to address the Chiefs biggest offseason need this year. Of all places to be cheap, or start a rookie for that matter, left tackle for the best quarterback in the NFL is not one of them. Mahomes is the most valuable asset this league has, so why in the world would Veach and the Chiefs flirt with disaster week after week?

First it was rookie Kingsley Suamataia, then Wanya Morris, then DJ Humphries (who is injured), and on Sunday left guard Joe Thuney switched positions. The end result has not been good, and frankly the position has been a mess since Orlando Brown Jr. left for the Cincinnati Bengals two years ago.

Donovan Smith is available and begging for a chance to play, but Veach hasn't listened thus far. Maybe Mahomes injury will change matters.

2. All of the Chiefs left tackles

Yes, all of them. Suamataia was selected in the second round by Kansas City and showed plenty of promise. Andy Reid still believes in him, as well as the 2023 third-round pick Morris, but they have done little on the field to prove they belong on a Super Bowl contender, let alone the back-to-back champions.

Humphries, and now Thuney, are proven veterans who have been there before. Thuney at a new position was even considered a better option than either Morris or Suamataia, which speaks to the level of confidence Reid and the coaching staff have in them right now.

For all we know, Mahomes may be fine long-term. Perhaps he'll miss a week and rest up, but there's little to suggest his ankle injury is anything more than a minor hiccup along the way. The next hit he takes may not be, especially on his blind side.

1. Andy Reid should've removed Patrick Mahomes from the game

Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy are the perfect play-calling duo for the Chiefs. They rarely take their foot off the gas, which was actually the problem against the lowly Cleveland Browns. With the game already well in hand, the Chiefs put Mahomes in danger, as FanSided's Alicia de Artola pointed out on Sunday.

"Kansas City was up by 14 at the half and early in the third quarter they took a 21-point lead. All they had to do was give the ball to the running backs and kill the clock. Instead, Reid and Matt Nagy dialed up 18 second-half pass attempts. There were two three-and-outs in the third quarter featuring six Mahomes incompletions," de Artola wrote.

Mahomes is too valuable of an asset for the Chiefs to put him in harm's way at this stage of the season. Per ESPN Stats and Info, Mahomes was pressured on 54 percent of his drop backs, which is well above the league average.

Considering the Chiefs were up multiple scores, and lacking in pass protection, running the football would've been the best path forward, and bled some clock as well. Instead, Nagy and Reid chose to run some practice routes – or run up the score – and it came back to haunt them.