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The Kansas City Chiefs have run out of room for offense.
If they’re going to expand the family and reach the AFC Championship Game for a ninth straight season with coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes to have a shot at winning a fourth Super Bowl title, they may need to play their last five games — and get help.
A 31-28 loss at Dallas on Thursday dropped the Chiefs (6-6) to .500. They’ve already lost to three 7-4 teams currently sitting in the AFC wild-card spot — the Chargers, Jaguars, Bulls — and they also beat the Texans (6-5) and Steelers (6-5).
Kansas City’s last five games are home vs. Houston and Los Angeles (the Chargers lost in Week 1 in Brazil), at Tennessee, home vs. Denver and in Las Vegas. The three tight ends are at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs are 5-1.
“You have to win every game now, I hope that’s enough,” Mahomes said. “We’re going to play a lot of good ball teams, coming up. If we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to beat them all. That’s going to be in mind when we step into the building when we go back.”
It’s going to be a tough task for Mahomes & Co. An inconsistent offense showed signs of encouragement, scoring four touchdowns against Dallas. But Steve Spagnolo’s defense surrendered 457 yards and 31 points. They need to strengthen the lower part.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys (6-5-1) are back in the NFC playoff race with their third straight win. They beat the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles and the runner-up in a five-day span.
Dak Prescott is thriving thanks to George Pickens and CD Lamb, who ended up dropping drops against Philadelphia. A revitalized defense got the best of a depleted offensive line and troubled Mahomes throughout the game.
Still, the Cowboys have a long way to go. They would have to win and the Eagles (8-3) lost three games to win the NFC East.
Dallas visits Detroit next week, hosts Minnesota and the Chargers and finishes with consecutive road games against Washington and the New York Giants.
The Cowboys will advance to the Lions (7-5) with a win next Thursday. They will need San Francisco (8-4) to lose two games if they are to end their eight-game winning streak.
“We’re playing good football, we’re riding a three-game winning streak,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “We’ve got to be four. And again, I think if you look at things that way, and it makes the process easier, and if we keep winning football games, we’ll see what happens in the end.”
Detroit’s hopes of becoming three-peat division champions took a serious blow with a 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Jordan Love was outstanding, hauling in four TD passes. Micah Parsons was dominant, recording 2 1/2 sacks. The Packers (8-3-1) would jump the Lions and take over first place if Chicago (8-3) loses at Philadelphia (8-3) on Friday.
The Packers face the Bears twice in the next three games sandwiched around a road game against the Broncos (9-2). The division battle will come down to these matchups.
“There are a lot of good football teams in our division,” Love said. “We’ve got to come out here and take care of business every time we get these opponents. Obviously, we know that three-game stretch that we had with the Vikings, now the Lions, and then next week with the Bears. You’ve got to come in and try to control our luck by playing those games and winning.”
Detroit has lost four of three and four of six. The Lions will have to win and win the second division title to get support. They won’t have an easy path to a wild-card spot, either. After Dallas, the Lions visit the NFC-leading Rams, host the Steelers and finish with consecutive road games against the Vikings and Bears.
“You’ve got to do your job, you’ve got to win and you need a little help. And that’s it,” coach Dean Campbell said. “But it all starts with you doing your job, who we are, and finding a way to beat the next one. It’s really that simple. Don’t overdo it. It’s frustrating, it’s useless, it’s hard, but we did it to ourselves and we’re the ones who get out of it.”
Joe Burrow returned for the Bengals and helped snap Baltimore’s five-game winning streak.
Much of the credit goes to Cincinnati’s defense for stifling Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Ravens. A unit that entered the last game in the NFL forced five turnovers.
The Ravens (6-6) moved a half game behind the Steelers (6-5) for first place in the AFC North. Pittsburgh hosts Buffalo on Sunday. The Ravens and Steelers will square off in Weeks 14 and 18.
Jackson threw four TD passes against Miami after returning from a three-game injury absence. But he has one TD pass and three picks in four games later.
