Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in jeopardy after gruesome injury derails contingency plan

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are in trouble, especially along the offensive line.

Left tackle Wanya Morris, stepping in for the sidelined Josh Simmons, injured his left knee after being rolled up on by center Creed Humphrey on Kansas City’s first play of the game.

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The Sunday Night Football crew opted not to show a replay of Morris’ injury because of its gruesome nature.

Minutes after being helped off the field, Morris was loaded onto a cart and taken to the locker room.

He was ruled out before the end of the first quarter, with undrafted rookie Esa Pole, recently promoted to the active roster, making his NFL debut in relief.

Going into SNF against the Houston Texans, the Chiefs were already counting on three backup offensive linemen, including Morris, fellow tackle Jaylon Moore and guard Mike Caliendo.

Simmons, Kansas City’s usual starting left tackle, was placed on injured reserve last week and is expected to miss at least four games.

He had surgery to fix a dislocated and fractured left wrist suffered during the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Right tackle Jawaan Taylor sat out Sunday’s game with a left triceps injury, the same issue he sustained against the Cowboys.

Starting right guard Trey Smith also missed his second straight game, dealing with a sprained right ankle he suffered in the victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

In other words, the Chiefs are banged up along the offensive line and have relied on Mahomes to be Superman, something he hasn’t been able to do consistently this season.

The Chiefs are 6-6 and have been desperately looking for ways to get hot and strong together a couple of wins and find a way into the postseason.

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They are currently the ninth seed and have a lot of work to do if they want to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes’ career.

More to come…

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