The Kansas City Chiefs are 5-5 on the year and desperately need a win in Week 12 if they want to stay in playoff contention. Unfortunately, up next for the Chiefs are the Indianapolis Colts, who, at 8-2, are one of the best teams in the AFC.
To make matters worse for the Chiefs, the Colts have a familiar face running the show defensively for them and he just so happens to be someone that has had Patrick Mahomes' number more often than not. That man is Lou Anarumo, who is the defensive coordinator for the Colts.
Anarumo, as Chiefs fans are well-aware, spent six years in Cincinnati as the Bengals defensive coordinator and had no problem putting together schemes to slow Mahomes down while he was there. We saw this firsthand in the 2022 AFC Championship Game when the Bengals came into Arrowhead and shocked the Chiefs, winning the game in overtime to advance to the Super Bowl.
During Anarumo's six games against Mahomes, he always managed to make the Chiefs quarterback uncomfortable with the greatest example of that being in the 2022 AFC Championship Game. Mahomes was constantly under duress, getting sacked four times and throwing two costly interceptions in the loss. He looked as bad as Chiefs fans had ever seen him in the second half of that game and it cost Kansas City a trip to the Super Bowl.
Patrick Mahomes can't let Lou Anarumo get the best of him in Week 12
While Mahomes and the Chiefs finally figured out a way to beat the Bengals, Anarumo has always been able to scheme well against him and now he'll get a chance to do that with his new team. The Colts defense isn't as talented as those Bengals teams were but make no mistake, if there's any guy who can throw Mahomes off his game, it's Lou Anarumo. He's done it time and time again.
It just so happens that this matchup is coming at the worst possible time, as the Chiefs have to win this game to avoid falling below the .500 mark. Doing so this late in the year could very well doom their playoff chances.
Let's hope Mahomes can find his footing in this one and not let Anarumo trip him up once again. The Chiefs' playoff hopes could depend on it.