Will Packers win force Chiefs to start Patrick Mahomes against Vikings?
The Chiefs gave the Packers all they could handle even without Patrick Mahomes on Sunday night, which should serve as a warning to the Vikings that winning at Arrowhead Stadium will be difficult no matter what when Kansas City hosts Minnesota at noon this coming Sunday.
Suffering a dislocated kneecap 11 days ago, the original timeline for Mahomes to return to the field was 3-6 weeks. But the star quarterback told NBC reporter Michelle Tafoya that had Sunday's game against Green Bay been a playoff game, he would've played.
So what's Mahomes' status for this week's contest with Minnesota? It's undetermined as of Monday, but as Pro Football Talk points out, the game could be as close to a playoff game as it gets at this point in the season. Will it force KC's hand?
"A loss tonight to the Packers would drop the Chiefs to 5-3, behind the 5-2 Ravens and the 5-3 Colts (who hold the tiebreaker) for the second seed in the AFC. Next week, in a game that could run Kansas City’s home losing streak to four, maybe Mahomes gets his way and forces his way onto the field, replacing Matt Moore."
Effectively, the Packers not only maintained a one-game lead on the Vikings in the NFC North by beating the Mahomes-less Chiefs, but they also may have stuck it to the Vikings by putting the Chiefs in a position where Mahomes returns from injury rather than sitting out one extra week.
Still, Mahomes returning this week is not a sure thing. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Mahomes "has an outside chance" to play against Minnesota.
"Mahomes is said to feel great right now, as if he can go play. In reality, how quick he'd be on the field will be determined in part by not how he feels, but how the knee has scarred up and will protect him," Rapoport wrote.
If Mahomes plays the Vikings will really have their hands full against an explosive offense. If Mahomes is out, Mike Zimmer's defense will go up against NFL journeyman Matt Moore, threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.