Judging biggest overreactions for NFL Week 15 games - ESPN

DENVER — For the first time since we've been writing this weekly column, it is not an overreaction to say that the Chiefs are going to miss the playoffs.

Sunday's loss to the Chargers — complete with quarterback Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL in the final minutes — combined with early-window victories by the Bills, Jaguars and Texans, means the AFC playoffs will be Chiefs-free for the first time in 11 years. It means the AFC Championship Game will be contested without the Chiefs for the first time in eight years. It means the Super Bowl will be contested without Kansas City for the first time in four years. It means the end, at least for now, of one of the great runs in sports history, as Andy Reid, Mahomes & Co. will now look to regroup and get things headed back in the right direction in 2026.

It also means opportunity for… well, pretty much everybody else. The Chiefs have been such a presence in our collective NFL consciousness for so long that the playoffs are going to feel weird without them. But there was nothing particularly fluky about this. There are plenty of teams this season that are better than the Chiefs, and this week was consequential for many of them.

So with that finalized, we present five Chiefs-free items for the Week 15 Overreactions column, where we try to figure out which overreactions might hold up and which are mirages.

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Bills, Patriots to have playoff rubber match?
Packers doomed in playoffs due to injuries?
Liam Coen has fixed Lawrence?
Steelers, Ravens set for showdown?
Pitts to get big money this offseason?
Fantasy-related overreactions

Sunday was epic in Foxborough. Drake Maye and the upstart Patriots raced out to a 21-0 lead, but Josh Allen led the Bills back — twice — to win 35-31