The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Green Bay Packers without starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was declared out by head coach Andy Reid.
This is absolutely the smart move. Even if Mahomes had wanted to play and showed some semblance of health, it would have been far too risky to start him against a very dangerous Packers defense less than two weeks after he dislocated his kneecap against the Denver Broncos.
This means Matt Moore will duel Aaron Rodgers. That’s a clear mark in favor of the Packers, though thankfully Moore did quite well last Thursday night in place of the injured Mahomes.
The good news for Mahomes is that the Chiefs’ trainer recently gushed about the quarterback’s progress rehabbing from the dislocated kneecap. He avoided any ligament damage and is going to return to action sooner rather than later.
If the Chiefs can pull out a win Sunday without him, that would be amazing. But they also have many other starters, like Eric Fisher, Kendall Fuller, Frank Clark or Chris Jones, and will have to get phenomenal contributions from backups in this game.