Patrick Mahomes Rises Above Injury, Schedule as Netflix Game Looms

Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been no fan of an unusually compressed stretch of three games in 11 days. But Mahomes continues to grit it out while battling an ankle injury, benefiting the two-time defending Super Bowl champions that are closing in another top seed in the AFC playoffs, as well as multiple NFL rights holders. 

Soon after complaining that the tight turnarounds on games—designed to enable a special Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix—was “not great for the body,” the two-time league MVP led Kansas City to a 27-19 over Houston on Saturday, leaving the 14-1 Chiefs on the verge on the top overall seed in the playoffs. One more Chiefs victory or a loss or tie by the Bills would clinch a postseason bye and home-field advantage as the Mahomes-led squad seeks a third-straight title that would be unprecedented in the NFL’s Super Bowl era. 

“I ask a lot from the guys around me,” Mahomes said. “I feel like if I’m going to ask them to play through pain and nicks and bruises, I’ve got to do it as well. That’s something that I pride myself on, being out there with my guys.”

Mahomes threw for 260 yards and one score while rushing for another in what coach Andy Reid described as the team’s most comprehensive game of the year. Just three of the Chiefs’ 14 wins this season have been by at least 10 points.

Still, the presence of Mahomes was good news for NBC, which showed the game in an unusual Saturday night broadcast. It’s also a big relief for Netflix, which continues to harbor high expectations for its holiday showcase, which will begin with the Chiefs at the Steelers on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET.

But while the star quarterback is expected to be there, there are several other pressing injury questions for the Chiefs with the short turnaround, as the statuses of defensive tackle Chris Jones, offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, and linebacker Jack Cochrane are uncertain for the Steelers game.

“You’re not going to feel great,” Mahomes said of the upcoming game in Pittsburgh. “That’s just kind of what it is. You don’t make excuses in this league. … It’ll be rocking playing on Christmas, so everybody’s going to be watching.”

No Big Wait for Numbers

There will not be an extended wait to have a more specific sense of what Mahomes means by “everybody.”

Netflix plans to release initial audience figures for that game, as well as a subsequent one that day between the Ravens and Texans, by the early evening on Dec. 26. The streaming giant has already contracted to work with Nielsen on viewership measurement, and that should provide a much more reliable barometer on the game than the highly debated internal figures released for last month’s Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match. 

The company claims it now has a better handle on the buffering issues that marred that event.