DALLAS — Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis tugged hard on the black strap around his wrist, tightening the brace before wiggling his fingers to regain feeling.
This was minutes after the Chiefs’ 31-28 road loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, and Karlaftis turned away from his locker to face reporters, preparing himself not to offer excuses for his team’s latest close loss.
“We’ve got to dig deeper, got to do more, got to look at ourselves in the mirror,” Karlaftis said. “Now is where this team is going to figure out what we’re made of.”
Look around the rest of the locker room — and at Karlaftis, too — and there might be more reasons to doubt the Chiefs can actually pull themselves out of the 6-6 hole they’ve already dug this year.
Ahead of Karlaftis was rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who exited the game with a wrist injury. He already had a cast on by postgame, his arm also supported by a black sling. Next to him was right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who suffered a strained tricep. That left him checking his phone afterward while sporting a black sleeve that covered his elbow and upper arm.
Add in an ankle injury for safety Bryan Cook, and the Chiefs — playing on short rest — lost more than just some playoff-probability odds with this particular defeat against the Cowboys. They also might’ve dropped a few key pieces that could be needed over the next few weeks to turn their season around.
“We’ll have to see,” coach Andy Reid said, “how those things recover.”
The team’s overall psyche might need some repair as well.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his emotions afterward provided an accurate snapshot of the team’s sentiment following this one.
Two weeks ago, after a road defeat to the Denver Broncos, Mahomes was dejected in the locker room. His team gave him a chance to win a tied game with 4:05 left, and he failed to deliver, leaving him to shoulder the blame for the loss.
Those types of feelings weren’t present Thursday night.
Mahomes — while playing in a homecoming game two hours from his hometown — went superhero mode in front of a prime-time audience on Thanksgiving. With the Chiefs playing three backup offensive linemen, Mahomes threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, dancing around a 35 percent pressure rate (according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats) for the second-highest mark he’d faced all season.
It still wasn’t enough to lift the Chiefs to a victory against the Cowboys.
“Just missed opportunities,” Mahomes said. “Just like all the losses we’ve had this year.”
No, this wasn’t a remorseful Mahomes. This was a ticked-off one. Yes, the Chiefs might be more talented than they were a year ago, when they ran through the regular season at 15-2 and made the Super Bowl. And their ceiling could be even higher, given the moments of success that look oh-so-easy at certain points each game.
None of that matters, though, if Kansas City can’t get out of its own way while figuring out how to perform better when games are on the line.
“We can beat everybody, but we’ve shown that we can lose to anybody,” Mahomes said. “We’ve got to be more consistent.”
The theme of this game was familiar, as the Chiefs fell to 1-6 in one-score contests. Start with penalties. Kansas City had 10 infractions for 119 yards, marking the highest for the team in the last five seasons.
Mahomes singled out this facet, saying those mistakes kept the Chiefs’ offense consistently behind schedule.
“That’s the kind of stuff we’ve done all year long,” Mahomes said.
There was also a general inability to come through in important moments. The Chiefs’ defense forced repeated third-and-longs but couldn’t get off the field. The Cowboys converted 9 of 16 third downs and were 1-of-1 on fourth down.
Later, with the Chiefs trying to rally in the fourth quarter while trailing by a touchdown, receiver Rashee Rice couldn’t deliver either. Rice — one of the team’s best players Thursday with 92 receiving yards and two touchdowns — failed to bring down a pass from Mahomes that hit him in both hands on a third-and-8.
Rice declined to speak to reporters in the locker room afterward.
The Chiefs — in all actuality — remain in the playoff hunt even after losing their third game in four weeks. Part of that is because a favorable schedule is coming up, as Kansas City will be betting favorites in each of its remaining five games.
The Athletic’s Playoff Simulator says the Chiefs still have a roughly 47 percent chance to make the playoffs, given their road and considering the paths of the teams ahead of them.
“We need to show up and play better,” Chiefs center Creed Humphrey said. “We have the guys to do it. I know we do.”
A bigger question now, though: Do all the Chiefs believe that? And would that playoff-odds estimate be considered accurate if they can’t heal up before their next home game against Houston a week from Sunday?
Kansas City’s backup offensive linemen might’ve battled against a strong Dallas defensive front, but there’s a difference between that and playing well. And though Mahomes magically lifted the team to 28 points on nine possessions Thursday, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to turn straw into gold every week while facing consecutive must-win scenarios.
“We were just off timing a little bit,” Reid said, “but Pat still made some great plays.”
It’s the haunting bottom line the Chiefs face as they return to Kansas City for a few days of much-needed rest.
In a Thanksgiving loss, Mahomes played one of his best games. He ran for first downs, scrambled to make throws on others and lifted his teammates above what could be expected with so many starters unavailable.
All of that … and it still wasn’t enough for a Chiefs team that continues to spin its wheels two-thirds of the way through the year.
And now? Some of the optimism of the last few weeks has quickly given way to water-in-the-face realism.
Starting with the face of the team at quarterback.
“You’ve got to win every game now,” Mahomes said, “and hope that’s enough.”
