Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Patrick Mahomes Injury Update – How Does It Affect the NFL MVP Odds and Who Are the Top Contenders Now?

Patrick Mahomes season comes to a crushing end with ACL injury while Chiefs miss playoffs for the first time sine 2014!

Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

In the Week 15 game on Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs’ day went from bad to worse against the Los Angeles Chargers. Not only did they end up losing the game and with it lost any chance they had of making it to the postseason, but they also lost their superstar quarterback to a knee injury.

The 2025-26 NFL season is now officially the worst Chiefs’ season since 2014, the last time they missed the playoffs, and it is also the first time in Patrick Mahomes career that he will not be part of the postseason. But, for the Chiefs’ signal caller, there is a more pressing concern he has to deal with in the coming few months.

Patrick Mahomes Injury Update

KC’s veteran quarterback went down with just under two minutes left in the game as he attempted a pass play with the Chiefs down 13-16. Mahomes was hit from the back just as he released the ball, going down in visible pain.

The Chiefs’ starting quarterback was helped off the field and into the locker room. Testing has since revealed that Mahomes has suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Following the game, the 3-time Super Bowl Champion expressed his thoughts on the injury on social media.

“Don’t know why this had to happen. And not going to lie it’s hurts,” Mahomes posted on X. “But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”

Although the 30-year-old was not having his best season by any means, Patrick Mahomes was in the running for the MVP at times this season. But now that he is completely out of the race, here is a look at what those odds look like now.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes did in fact tear his ACL. pic.twitter.com/3YSufi4aez
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 15, 2025

2025–26 NFL MVP Odds Post Mahomes Injury

The Kansas City Chiefs’ star had not been among the favorites to land the coveted NFL MVP for several weeks now, but he was one of the players with top odds earlier in the season. Now that his season has come to an end, the best odds for the top individual prize in the league go to Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, and Josh Allen as per FanDuel.

Currently, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is enjoying a superb season, with Los Angeles booking the first playoff berth in the NFC. As per FanDuel, Stafford has -250 odds to land the MVP at the end of the regular season.

Stafford is then followed by Drake Maye with +400 odds and Josh Allen, who has +500 odds as per FanDuel. Maye, in just his second season in the league, is having an outstanding year with the Patriots, while Allen continues to showcase his dominance both through the air and on the ground for the Bills.

All three of these quarterback have completed their Week 15 games on Sunday, which means they now have just three more regular-season games left to work their magic. Of course, there may be some quality performances from other players as well, but at the moment, it looks like the race for the MVP award will come down to these three.

Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Drake Maye

Josh Allen

Kansas City Chiefs

Matthew Stafford

NFL

Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes Injury Update

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!