Let Sunday, December 14, 2025, be known as the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty. Not only were the Chiefs officially eliminated from postseason contention yesterday, marking the first time in Patrick Mahomes’ career as a starter that they will not play in the AFC Championship Game, Mahomes suffered a torn ACL in the dying moments of the game, ending his season and potentially putting the start of the 2026 campaign in jeopardy.
Mahomes’ injury will obviously have a huge effect on the rest of the season for the franchise, though it is still a 3.5-point favorite in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans at DraftKings Sportsbook. Most immediately, Gardner Minshew II will step in as the team’s full-time starting quarterback, and though he has 46 career starts under his belt, he hadn’t thrown a pass since suffering a season-ending fractured collarbone in Week 12 last season with the Las Vegas Raiders prior to his five attempts in relief of Mahomes yesterday. Swapping out Mahomes for Minshew could also impact fantasy users’ lineups during the fantasy football playoffs, as Rashee Rice had emerged as a must-start.
The good news for Rice’s fantasy managers is that Minshew is an aggressive passer who likes to lock in on his top target. Each of the teams for which he has made at least nine starts in a season ended up with a 1,000-yard receiver. He also had a lower bad-throw percentage and higher on-target percentage in 2024 than Mahomes did in 2025. Plus, on short throws (defined as those that target the immediate 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage), 2024 Minshew was better than 2025 Mahomes, and a plurality of Rice’s targets have come in those zones, so despite Minshew’s performing worse than Mahomes everywhere else on the field, his strong zones are right in Rice’s wheelhouse. It’ll be up to Andy Reid to trust him with similar play-calls, but it’s not like running the ball through Isiah Pacheco or Kareem Hunt is a strong option.
Rice is still worth a start, especially against one of the league’s worst teams in Tennessee. This season, the Titans have conceded the seventh-most FPTS per game to wide receivers and allowed the fourth-most yards and seventh-most touchdown passes. They’ve also struggled against slot receivers, especially after promising corner Roger McCreary was placed on Injured Reserve with a hip injury. As long as Kansas City can keep the pocket clean against a Tennessee defense whose only major strong point is its pass rush, Minshew should be able to deliver the ball to Rice in the right spots.
