Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is one of the players who is not happy about having to play three games in just 11 days. This will happen in the coming weeks, and the Chiefs are one of four teams, along with the Texans, Steelers, and Ravens, that will play on Christmas Day this year.
Since Christmas falls on a Wednesday, which is unusual for the NFL, these teams will also play the Saturday before to get some rest. This results in two short weeks after their Sunday games.
“It’s not a good feeling,” Mahomes said on Wednesday. “You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body. But at the end of the day it’s your job, your profession, you have to come to work and do it.”
The Chiefs will play the Browns on Sunday, while the Ravens will play the Giants, the Steelers will play the Eagles, and the Texans will host the Dolphins. On December 21, the Texans will visit Kansas City and the Steelers will visit Baltimore. After that, on Christmas Day, the Chiefs will play in Pittsburgh, and the Ravens will play in Houston.
Mahomes was asked if he had ever played three games in such a short period. He replied, “I haven’t in football.” While he has played in situations like this in high school baseball and possibly basketball, he hasn’t experienced this in football, especially at the physical level of the NFL.
“All you can do is focus on the game. The practice you have that day,” Mahomes said. “I try to prepare my body all year long for this stretch. That’s tailoring my workouts, tailoring how you practice and prepare, and the coaches do a great job of taking care of us on the practice field. We practice as hard as anybody, but they know how to dial it back when needed.”
The NFL has had Wednesday games before, the most recent in 2020 when the Steelers and Ravens had their game delayed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
The NFL also had a Wednesday game in 2012 for the season opener between the Giants and Cowboys so TV networks could broadcast Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. However, before these games, the last Wednesday NFL game was in 1948 between the Lions and Rams.
“It’s a unique situation. You just have to manage it,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team will have played every day of the week except Tuesday this season. “It is what it is. You make the best of it.”
The games during this stretch aren’t meaningless. Each one has important playoff implications. The Chiefs have already won the AFC West but are trying to stay ahead of Buffalo and Pittsburgh for the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye. The Steelers are ahead of the Ravens in the AFC North and could clinch a playoff spot, while the Texans are leading the Colts in the AFC South.
So, how are the Chiefs preparing for these important games?
“The main thing is you get guys ready for the game. Give them a chance to get ready for the game,” Reid said. “They’re going to do whatever you present to them. You try to help them out with that. Right now we have a normal week right here. We have to take care of business here.”
