The final stretch of the 2024 NFL season will continue to put Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to the test, with the two-time defending Super Bowl champions playing three games in just 11 days.
The National Football League decided to set up two games on Christmas Day, with the Chiefs hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers before the Houston Texans welcome the Baltimore Ravens to their stadium.
The aforementioned teams will get to play on a Saturday the week before to have an extra day of rest, but the December schedule is still grueling. Therefore, Mahomes made his feelings clear to the NFL.
“It’s not a good feeling,” Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by AP. “You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body.”
Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts prior to a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on September 29, 2024 in Inglewood, California.
Just like the other three teams who were designated to play on Christmas, the Chiefs will have two short weeks in the final stretch of the 2024 NFL regular season. Mahomes, however, understands this is part of the business: “But at the end of the day it’s your job, your profession, you have to come to work and do it.”
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A demanding schedule for Mahomes, Chiefs in final stretch of 2024 NFL season
On Sunday, December 15, Mahomes and company will hit the road to play the Browns in Cleveland. Six days later, Kansas City will welcome the Texans to Arrowhead. Only four days later, the Chiefs will travel to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers in Week 17.
Therefore, Mahomes knows that preparation is key: “All you can do is focus on the game. The practice you have that day. 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.”
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Andy Reid’s message to Mahomes, Chiefs on how to handle challenging schedule
The schedule hasn’t been easy on Kansas City this year, with Andy Reid‘s team playing on every day of the week but Tuesday in the 2024 NFL season. The Chiefs head coach knows that while it may not be easy, there’s no option but to deal with it: “It’s a unique situation. You just have to manage it. It is what it is. You make the best of it.”
