Unlucky Streak Strikes Again: Chiefs Backup QB Gardner Minshew Falls to Torn ACL!

It seems like magic kept the Kansas City Chiefs balanced—but on the field, reality has other plans. Just one week after starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with a torn ACL, backup Gardner Minshew has suffered the same fate! Yes, you read that right—two games, back-to-back misfortune.

During Sunday’s game against the Titans, Minshew scrambled on the third play and suddenly felt pain in his left knee—and down he went! It was a non-contact injury, meaning nobody even touched him, yet luck clearly has its own sense of timing.

Chiefs QB Gardner Minshew likely suffered a torn ACL in his left knee against the Titans today, sources tell Chiefs Digest. He will undergo an MRI to confirm.

Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew suffering torn left ACLs in back-to-back games is crazy bad luck.
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) December 21, 2025

Adding insult to injury—literally—Chris Oladokun, the Chiefs’ third-string QB, had to step in for Minshew. His only previous regular-season NFL experience? Just one game: Week 18 of the 2024 season, backing up Carson Wentz during a 38-0 loss to the Broncos. In that game, he ran once for 5 yards, got sacked once, and even fumbled. So, yeah… still warming up for the big stage.

Chiefs fans might be thinking, “Did we just buy a losing lottery ticket?” Pretty much! This consecutive injury streak could go down as one of the strangest sequences in NFL history. Who plays next week? Most likely, we’ll see the third-string phantom QB in action—fingers crossed.

For those who think football is all about physical skill, think again. Sometimes, luck is the real MVP. Chiefs’ past two weeks prove that it’s not just talent that matters—it’s the state of your ACL too.

In the end, if Oladokun manages to pull a heroic moment out of today’s defeat, it’ll be nothing short of miraculous. But for now, the Chiefs’ backup QB saga looks like a live-action horror-comedy.