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The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a couple of major losses on Sunday as they were eliminated from the playoffs and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL.
The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Chiefs 16-13 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, but the biggest loss was Mahomes’ devastating injury.
Travis Kelce reacted to the injury by saying “it just sucks.”
“We lost our quarterback, Patty Mahomes, our guy, our brother, our fearless leader, our face of the franchise, to an ACL. It’s never easy to watch your guys go down. We had a bunch of guys go down last game, and we fought. We fought, some guys fought through some things,” Kelce said during a recent episode of his podcast, “New Heights.”
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Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce stands on the field after the Los Angeles Chargers game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on December 14, 2025. (Scott Winters/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)
“On a weird play, seeing (Mahomes) go down like that man, it was almost like it wasn’t real and it just sucks, man. For a guy that puts in that much and puts his body on the line week in and week out and makes this world of football – he gets the most out of it because of how hard he works, and it sucks.”
Mahomes was injured late in the fourth quarter with the team trailing 16-13 and trying to come back, and backup Gardner Minshew entered the game. Kelce praised Minshew for fighting, despite the backup throwing the game-sealing interception to end the Chiefs’ playoff hopes.
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Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce leaves the field after a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Kansas City. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Kelce had seven catches for 70 yards in the Chiefs’ loss to the Chargers. In 14 games this season, the 10-time Pro Bowler has 67 catches for 797 yards and five touchdowns.
This is the first time the Chiefs have missed the playoffs since 2014, and Kelce, in his 13th season, pointed out that he is the only player on the roster to play in a regular-season game that doesn’t have playoff involvement.
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Mahomes underwent surgery on his ACL and LCL on Monday, and the recovery schedule gives the Chiefs hope he can be on the field early next season.
However, he won’t be on the field in the Team of the Year’s final three games. The Chiefs’ next game is against the lowly Tennessee Titans (2-12) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
