Sunday night’s 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans sent the Kansas City Chiefs spiraling to 6-7, thinning their already fragile playoff hopes and raising new questions about the future dominance of Patrick Mahomes. In the wake of such a meltdown on Sunday Night Football, one NFL legend still believes the league belongs to Mahomes, even in a season defined by inconsistency and chaos.

Amid the national criticism of Mahomes’ slump, legendary quarterback Joe Theismann offered a different perspective

“I’ve watched Patrick for years,” Theismann said. “I think he’s the best quarterback in football. People can argue with Josh about it, but I’m going to take Patrick.”

Theismann’s comments also rekindled the debate between Mahomes and Allen. The two quarterbacks took over as starters in 2018 and have since framed the AFC landscape. Allen does hold a 5–1 regular-season record over Mahomes, while Mahomes owns a perfect 4–0 playoff edge over Allen, having knocked him out in the AFC Championship Game twice and in the Divisional Round twice.

But even as Josh Allen picked up his first MVP last year and leads Buffalo to another strong season, Theismann insisted the league still goes through Mahomes, at least as far as pure quarterbacking ability is concerned.

Mahomes didn’t look like a two-time MVP or a three-time Super Bowl champion. He set career lows in completion rate (42.4%), passer rating (19.8%), and threw three interceptions for just the fourth time in his career.

It was an outing that put the brightest of spotlights on Kansas City’s battered offensive line, depleted receiving corps, and growing sense of urgency.

Coming into Week 14, Mahomes had an outstanding résumé against Houston, but this was a bleak day well before it had time to truly settle in. The line had already been thin without Trey Smith, Jawaan Taylor, and Josh Simmons; it further deteriorated when Wanya Morris went down on the first offensive snap.

Esa Pole was thrust into his NFL debut, forcing him into action immediately, and Mahomes was scrambling on nearly every dropback.

Still, as Theismann is quick to point out, you cannot look at Mahomes in a vacuum. The offense failed him repeatedly, and the breakdown in protection made Kansas City’s attack almost unrecognizable.

Chiefs’ playoff hopes fading

The Chiefs are staring at one of the bleakest playoff outlooks of the Mahomes era. This season, Kansas City is in legitimate danger, and Sunday’s loss pushed them closer to the brink.

At 6–7, the Chiefs are now two games behind the Texans, who also own the head-to-head tiebreaker, at 8–5. They’re three games back of Buffalo, with no tiebreak advantage at 9-4, and could sit three behind the Chargers depending on Monday night’s result.

Even the Colts are ahead of Kansas City on tiebreakers at 8-5, while several AFC teams remain in the mix.

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Suddenly, with four games remaining and several teams to leapfrog, Kansas City finds itself in grave danger of a season without postseason football, let alone hopes of repeating, a prospect that was unimaginable only a year ago.

For the first time in the Mahomes era, the Chiefs might simply have too much ground to recover in too little time.