Chiefs list Patrick Mahomes as day-to-day with elbow injury ahead of Falcons trip
Andy Reid says Patrick Mahomes is day-to-day with a right elbow injury from the Jets win, and Kansas City is still favored at Atlanta.
Patrick Mahomes heads into a week of uncertainty. On Monday, Andy Reid said his quarterback is day-to-day with a right elbow injury he picked up in Sunday's 35-12 win over the New York Jets. Arrowhead Pride put three Chiefs in that category in its daily roundup, and Mahomes is the one who matters most to Sunday's game at Atlanta.
The early signs are good. ESPN reported that Mahomes was at the team facility Monday morning for treatment. An MRI after the game showed no major damage, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Reid said the results were "more positive news than negative news on Patrick," and described the next step as rehab to clear out the soreness. CBS Sports noted that Rapoport called it a strain or sprain of the throwing elbow.
The hit looked worse than that. Yahoo Sports reported that Mahomes left the field with trainers, favoring the arm, but came back and finished the game. Afterward he said he would play if he was able to. He has started all eight games this season. Kansas City took its bye early, so there are 13 straight games left with no week off. That makes a careful approach this week more tempting.
The quarterback is not the only concern. Harrison Butker missed a 51-yard try against the Jets, as The Kansas City Star noted. Entertainment Weekly reported that he leads the league with seven missed field goals. Reid has not said he plans to change kickers.
What it means for Atlanta
The Chiefs are 6-2. They have scored 202 points and allowed 143, for a margin of +59. That works out to about 25 points scored and 18 allowed per game. Both losses came on the road in back-to-back weeks: 20-3 at Seattle and 28-24 at Denver. They answered with the rout of the Jets. Kansas City is 4-0 at home and 2-2 away, and the game in Atlanta on CBS is the fifth road trip of the season.
The market still rates the Chiefs highly. On this site's board, which tracks 12 venues, Kansas City is favored at -178 on Novig's moneyline. Hard Rock Bet has the best Chiefs price at -175. On the Atlanta side, Novig shows +170 and Polymarket has the longest price at +173. The gap between venues is only a few cents, which suggests the market has not moved much on the Mahomes news so far. Sportsbook hold on the moneyline ranges from 3.1% to 4.7%.
The spread varies a little more. Novig has Kansas City -3.5 at +113. Pinnacle has the Chiefs at -3, priced at -117. That half-point sits right around a field goal, and Butker's season gives it extra weight. Novig's total is 44.5, while Pinnacle's best under is at 45.5. Chiefs games this season have averaged about 43 combined points.
All of those numbers assume Mahomes plays. Whatever Reid says about his practice participation over the next few days will move the board more than anything else this week.