KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a left knee injury with less than two minutes left in Sunday's 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, a result that officially ended Kansas City's playoff hopes.
Mahomes was hurt after he scrambled out of the pocket and was chased down by Chargers defensive end Da'Shawn Hand before throwing an incompletion. He remained down on the ground for several minutes before standing up and leaving and was replaced by Gardner Minshew.
A few minutes later, Mahomes exited the medical tent with a towel over his head while being assisted by the medical staff, walking gingerly to the locker room.
The Chargers finished off the win with a Derwin James Jr. interception of Minshew, as they improved to 10-4 while dropping Kansas City to 6-8.
The Chiefs had advanced to the postseason each of the past 10 seasons.
Kansas City entered the season hoping to be just the second team in the Super Bowl era to return to the game's biggest stage for a fourth consecutive season. Instead, it was unable to reach the postseason largely because it couldn't accomplish what it did a year ago: win one-score games.
Last year, the Chiefs won 11 such games, the most in a single campaign in league history. But for many factors this season -- a lack of execution, the defense not getting off the field late and Harrison Butker missing a career-high eight field goals -- the Chiefs suffered seven one-score losses, including Sunday's.
