Lions’ Super Bowl hopes hit as injury ends Montgomery and McNeill’s seasons

The banged-up Detroit Lions were dealt some serious blows in their loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said running back David Montgomery and defensive tackle Alim McNeill will need season-ending knee surgery after both were injured in the setback against Buffalo. Khalil Dorsey also underwent season-ending surgery Sunday night after breaking his leg against the Bills.

The Lions will also be indefinitely without cornerback Carlton Davis III, who suffered a jaw injury in the 48-42 loss to Buffalo that ended their franchise-record 11-game winning streak.

‘It seems so [Montgomery is] will require surgery that will put him out for the rest of the year,” Campbell told ESPN on Monday. “He got it at some point in that game yesterday.

“I mean, David is so tough. He kept playing and had it checked today and realized this was it. He’s just the ultimate teammate, the ultimate competitor. We’re going to miss him, man.”

The Lions have already clinched a playoff spot but have been plagued by injuries all season, including star defenseman Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia and fibula in Week 6.

“We recognize the fact that we’ve lost players, we’ve lost really good players, but no one cares,” Campbell said. “No one cares and no one is going to give us a pass or put an asterisk next to your record.

“So it means that some guys get an incredible opportunity. Because of what happened, it now means that if you’re a guy who’s at the vet, or if you’re a young player, or if you’re someone who wants to get an opportunity, you’re about to get it. ”

Elsewhere, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a high ankle sprain and his status for this week’s game against Houston remains questionable, a source told the Associated Press.

Mahomes came on late in the Chiefs’ 21-7 win over the Browns on Sunday. Mahomes has a history of ankle injuries, including a similar one against Jacksonville in Week 1 of the 2019 season. But perhaps most memorable came in the 2022 playoffs, when Mahomes hurt his ankle in a divisional round win over the Jaguars and then played through the pain by beating Cincinnati for the AFC title and Philadelphia in the Super Bowl.

The schedule is tough for the Chiefs. They have one less recovery day this week due to their Saturday game against Houston, then they have another short week with a trip to Pittsburgh scheduled for Christmas Day.

“We’ll just see how it goes,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after Sunday’s game. “We’re going to take it day by day as we go through it. I don’t know how much swelling he has or anything like that, so we don’t know what will happen.

The Chiefs (13-1) hold a two-game lead over Buffalo for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, although the Bills hold the tiebreaker. The Texans have clinched the AFC South, while the Steelers lead the AFC North and have clinched a playoff berth.

If the Chiefs play it safe by resting Mahomes on Saturday — and even next week against Pittsburgh — they say they have confidence in backup QB Carson Wentz’s ability to win.

“I have a lot of confidence in Carson,” Mahomes said. “I mean, he’s played football and won football games and put him in there. They’ve done a great job of taking the football running time off the clock and putting us in a position to win the football game.”