The only winner in Chiefs’ loss to the Titans: Patrick Mahomes’ reputation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs produced 133 yards, nine first downs and 1-of-9 third-down success.
- Mahomes absence and injuries exposed offensive decline and scoring failure.
- Game reinforced view that Mahomes remains the franchise centerpiece and leader.
The numbers Sunday were ugly.
In their 26-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs had just nine first downs, 133 total yards and were 1 of 9 on third downs.
That was against a defense that entered Sunday ranked 28th in points allowed.
Sure, the Chiefs were without injured quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his backup, Gardner Minshew, also got hurt. And they had a long list of other injured players.
But the Chiefs rushed for just 51 yards and failed to reach the end zone. There wasn’t much to like, but it did destroy any argument that Mahomes was a system quarterback, helped by having Andy Reid as his coach. That’s an argument that’s been made frequently on social media about the two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP.
Others have said Mahomes is simply overrated.
That’s why the only winner for the Chiefs was Mahomes and his reputation, even though he missed the game after having knee surgery Monday.
Former Chiefs offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz wrote on X: “We restarting the MVPat 2025 campaign after that embarrassment? I have a lot of bad things to say but maybe the best way to say it is how can you not come away from that game realizing just how ... much that guy has done for this franchise this year (or these last few years).”
That MVP talk was shared by a number of fans, and it wasn’t just in Chiefs Kingdom. People noted just how important Mahomes is to the team, a point that was driven home by Sunday’s ugly result.
Here is a sample of what was being said about Mahomes following Sunday’s game in Nashville.
This story was originally published December 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM.
