Two weeks ago in Detroit, the Chiefs got the ball back with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left trailing 30-27. By traditional logic, the onus was on them, the odds against a comeback.
But if you've been paying attention in this exhilarating Patrick Mahomes era, chances are you felt more faith than mere hope and just wondered how it work out instead of if it would.
That feeling was further bolstered by a nine-play, 79-yard drive for the winning touchdown that day, "because, Mahomes" had emerged as the answer to about any question or dilemma for the Chiefs.
But after the Chiefs lost 31-24 to Houston Sunday to suffer a second straight loss at Arrowhead Stadium, the questions only are multiplying in ways that even Mahomes can't eclipse or alleviate _ including a question that must be asked about him unless you're in utter denial.
Just because Mahomes can play on an obviously hobbled ankle, just because even at whatever lessened percentage of full health he is now he still is better than most of the league, are the Chiefs doing the right thing in the broader framework of the season to keep playing him while having him in the best possible health later will be crucial?
Does his greatness warp the perspective on this, especially as the Chiefs strive for the best possible postseason pole position?
Put differently, would he be better off on crutches for a bit than being the Chiefs' crutch now?
Call them rhetorical questions, but aren't they worth thinking about more than the Chiefs seem to be?
"Listen, he's done a pretty good job the last couple weeks. He's made some nice throws," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "I'm not telling you it doesn't hurt, but he's doing a nice job."
Indeed, Mahomes had a good game Sunday, completing 19 of 35 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns _ including two to Tyreek Hill, who was playing for the first time since the season opener.
Although Mahomes threw his first interception of the season, it's also true that it was largely because of officials botching an interpretation of a call with the Chiefs driving toward a chance to go up 24-9 and administer a semi-knockout blow.
But Mahomes also obviously is having to compensate for the ankle injury he suffered in the opener. It was aggravated last week when it was stepped on hard by one of his own linemen.
Then it was, well, not exactly aggravated when he was hit hard by two Houston linemen Sunday.
Smiling at the question, Mahomes said, "I don't know if I necessarily aggravated it; a big dude just fell on it. So even if it was hurt before, or wasn't hurt, it would have hurt anyway just from that guy falling on it."
I can't swear to this, but I believe when Mahomes is hurt he does his best to actually swagger some to hide the limp.
But he got up limping.
And time and again, you could see Mahomes' mechanics appear off-kilter, leading to several near-interceptions. Even such close calls have been a rarity this season.
His mobility was visibly reduced, a notion apparently affirmed by the high number of screen passes called. He also was reluctant to run when safe opportunities presented themselves, most glaringly late in the first half when the entire right side of the field opened up for him.
The play worked out well enough, with a 19-yard catch-and-run by Byron Pringle, but you can bet a healthy Mahomes would have run.
Again, though, the question isn't so much can Mahomes function reasonably well in pain as what the cumulative effect of this is.
When I asked Reid about it last week, he said, "We're not going to put him in harm's way there, that's not how we roll." Deferring to the judgment of doctors and athletic trainers, Reid said, "If we thought it was going to hurt him down the road, he wouldn't be in there."
No doubt, the Chiefs have excellent people doing this work, but it's hard to know how that line is determined.
Proud and competitive as Mahomes is, it's also hard to know what, short of a broken ankle, would keep him out if he has any say.
But Mahomes, backed up by veteran Matt Moore, who was out of the NFL last year, didn't blink when asked about whether he understands the line:
"If I felt like my ankle was affecting the team and the success of the offense, I would for sure move on," he said. "But at the same time, I feel like I'm still moving around. I'm still able to run, scramble, throw. And we just haven't executed at a high-enough success rate as an offense."
Asked if he was close to 100% or where he needs to be, Mahomes said, "I feel like I'm good now, honestly. ... Obviously, I'll still get treatment and stuff like that, but I feel like I can still do everything I need to do."
That's not the same as being able to everything he has been capable of doing, of course, and the trick here is how he can be best-equipped to do that by season's end.
There's no one answer to this when just making the playoffs is no certainty, but it's a worthy question.
Especially with the Chiefs' next game on Thursday in Denver.
Especially when line play seems to make the run game a limited option.
Especially when the other questions aren't getting answered.
Suddenly, the issues that could always somehow be shrugged down the road (better get that defense fixed or it might come back to haunt them in the presumptive AFC Championship Game against the Patriots!) are clear and present dangers to what had seemed an inevitability.
Starting with just what can be done about a ruptured defense that keeps windmilling along opposing runners (this time for 192 yards after giving up 180 the week before) ... while the defense and offense combine to generously hand over the clock (39:48 of possession for Houston a week after Indianapolis had 37:15) ... and work with special teams to obligingly commit penalties every few minutes (11 were enforced against the Chiefs for a second straight Sunday).
Maybe former defensive coordinator Bob Sutton wasn't the crux of the problem, after all?
But even with that defense last year, the Chiefs were good enough to be within an offsides call and a coin toss of their first Super Bowl since the 1969 season.
Because, Mahomes ... who with all the other variables going as they are will have to be at his physical best for this season to be special.
For his sake and everyone who cares about this team, here's hoping the Chiefs are right in their conviction that this ongoing injury won't hurt Mahomes down the road and douse the faith that he's created.
