A drab slate of NFL games on Christmas was made worse Sunday with the news that the Kansas City Chiefs will likely be down to their third-string quarterback.
A week after Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL, his backup, Gardner Minshew, is also reportedly feared to have sustained a torn ACL in Sunday’s 26-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Minshew will undergo further testing on his injured knee, but the concern in Kansas City is for an ACL tear.
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If so, the Chiefs will be down to third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun for Thursday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Denver Broncos unless they sign somebody else to start. That’s difficult news for Minshew and the Chiefs. It’s also bad news for football fans hoping to watch compelling football on Christmas.
Minshew suffered his knee injury in the first half of Sunday’s game. Oladokun, making his second NFL appearance, took over to lead a Chiefs offense that tallied just 133 yards of offense against a Titans team that won its third game of the season.
That’s not watchable football. And there’s not much promise for Thursday’s game amid a three-game Christmas slate that was already lacking punch.
NFL delivering bag of coal for Christmas
Thursday’s schedule will kick off with an NFC East matchup of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders, two teams that are already eliminated from the playoffs. Washington will play without Pro Bowl quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom the Commanders shut down amid multiple injuries in a lost season.
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The day’s second game features an eliminated Minnesota Vikings team hoping to spoil the faint playoff hopes of the Detroit Lions in what now projects as the most compelling matchup of the day. And for the nightcap, the likely Oladokun-led Chiefs will take on the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos in a matchup that does not project as anything close to competitive.
To be fair, this was a compelling matchup when the schedule was announced in May. As were the other two. Denver-Kansas City featured the juggernaut Chiefs against the up-and-coming Broncos as challengers to unseat their nine-year reign as AFC West champions.
The reality is that the 6-9 Chiefs are irrelevant regardless of who plays quarterback Sunday, and the Broncos are locked into the playoffs. A capable backup with starting experience, Minshew at least gave the Chiefs faint hope of playing spoiler to their division rivals as the Broncos seek to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But now even that storyline is a long shot.
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What should the NFL do?
And thus is the problem with scheduling standalone NFL games in late December. Matchups that look appealing on paper in May can be completely upended seven months later.
By Week 17, attrition has taken its toll across the league and changed the dynamic of most of the NFL’s rosters. And the playoff picture will have eliminated several teams from contention.
The weak Christmas slate has prompted some to float the idea of flex scheduling for Christmas. That brings its own set of issues, mainly around upending people’s holiday plans at the last minute.
Maybe it’s best if the NFL just doesn’t schedule games on Christmas.
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