KC Chiefs were incredibly lucky with Patrick Mahomes’ injury

The Kansas City Chiefs were incredibly lucky when it came to Patrick Mahomes’ injury results.

Thanksgiving might still be more than 10 weeks away, but I am already feeling incredibly thankful about something that occurred during Kansas City’s emphatic 44-21 win over Arizona last weekend. The Chiefs were arguably the standout team in the NFL in Week 1, but they already might have dodged a major bullet in regards to an injury to Patrick Mahomes.

It was early in the first quarter and Mahomes had just thrown his first of five touchdown passes on the day. He was hit just after he threw the ball, which found Travis Kelce in the end zone, and the star quarterback landed awkwardly on his left wrist.

The incident seemed innocuous, but Mahomes was clearly in pain afterward and heavy taping was clearly visible on his wrist, and it was obvious he felt uncomfortable.

Looking back, the Chiefs are incredibly lucky that Mahomes hurt his left wrist, and not the wrist on his throwing hand. If he had, not just Mahomes but all of Chiefs Kingdom could have been in a world of pain. Mahomes was clearly affected by the injury, handing the ball off with his right hand to avoid having to use his injured left.

Based on that, it is incredibly doubtful that Mahomes would have been able to throw the ball or stay in the game had the injury instead occurred on his other side. And while x-rays after the game have since come back negative, who knows if Mahomes would be available for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers or in the weeks to follow?

Not even 12 hours later, an incident in Sunday night’s game between Dallas and Tampa Bay highlighted just how lucky the Chiefs might have been. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott injured his hand just after throwing a pass during the game and is now likely to miss six to eight weeks. With their starting quarterback potentially sidelined for a third of the season, the Cowboys’ hopes of making the playoffs have already taken a major hit in Week 1.

I can’t stop thinking about how lucky Kansas City is to not be in the same position as Mahomes. Neither Prescott nor Mahomes did anything wrong in the slightest, but both still ended up injured on what seemed like standard plays.

What if Mahomes had braced for the fall with his other arm instead? What if that meant he suffered the same injury but to his throwing wrist and had to spend any time on the sideline?  Who knows how that might have impacted Kansas City’s season?

As a Chiefs fan, I am incredibly thankful that we don’t have to find out.