22. Kansas City Chiefs
Who would have possibly thought we would see something like this? The Kansas City Chiefs, after nine-straight AFC West division titles, have been eliminated from the playoff picture completely after a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Of course, that storyline pales in comparison to what we saw late in the game against the Chargers, which was star quarterback Patrick Mahomes going down with a left knee injury. Thankfully, Mahomes wasn’t carted off the field, but he was writhing on the ground in pain for quite some time after seemingly hyperextending his knee, and he was helped off the field into the tunnel after the loss.
Hopefully, Mahomes has avoided any structural damage to his knee, but with the Chiefs now eliminated from playoff contention, it might not be the worst idea for them to shut Mahomes down and give over the reins to Gardner Minshew for the final three weeks.
21. Minnesota Vikings
The NFL world had its fun when it came to making JJ McCarthy, AKA “Nine”, an absolute meme. Since McCarthy became the laughingstock of the NFL, he’s actually played some pretty great football.
Good enough, at least, to have Cowboys fans talking about firing Matt Eberflus after the Vikings’ rather stunning in on Sunday Night Football. Look, the Cowboys don’t really lose at home this season, at least not often. Even with a porous defense, they’ve been lighting up the scoreboard at home and the Vikings got the job done.
It’s yet another impressive coaching job by Kevin O’Connell, whose team is well out of range in a brutally difficult NFC North this season, but doing more than just saving face here. Every good game from McCarthy here on out is a deposit in the fan base’s faith bank for the future.