The Kansas City Chiefs are going for it, and at this point, that shouldn’t surprise anybody. You don’t win two straight Super Bowls by playing it safe and conservative all the time. Kansas City also wouldn’t have won two-straight Super Bowls if it wasn’t for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, though, and therein lies the risk of the Chiefs’ decision to play him in Week 16 against the Houston Texans.

Mahomes will be less than a week removed from a pretty brutal high ankle injury he sustained in Week 15’s win against the Cleveland Browns. He took the hit that caused his ankle to get caught under a Browns’ defender in the fourth quarter of that game. He limped off the field and needed the assistance of a cart after the game.

Despite the gruesome look of the injury, the vibes were actually pretty positive after the game. Mahomes was first listed as week-to-week and then it came out that he was responding pretty quickly in his recovery. Now, just days before the Chiefs’ pivotal matchup with the Texans, it’s being announced that Mahomes will start against Houston, and head coach Andy Reid seems pretty impressed with how his quarterback is looking with a full work load in practice.

“He did look good out there. He moved around pretty good. So, you’re always looking to make sure they can get out the way, not to further any harm to them. So that’s what I look at,” Reid said, according to Adam Teicher of ESPN. “I’ve been through it with him before, and he amazed me every time he does it. The guy, he’s been so mentally tough and just puts it into a mindset that he has going into it [from] where he was a few days ago.”

Again, there’s absolutely risk with playing Mahomes so close to the high ankle injury. This is a big game against the 9-5 Texans, winners of the AFC South, but a re-injury to the ankle could be devastating to Kansas City’s hopes of being the first ever team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row. Even a tweak could put a playoff run in jeopardy, so there’s certainly reason to be cautious.

So why are the Chiefs throwing caution to the wind at this point? Again, it’s worth noting that sometimes you have to make bold decisions in order to get bold results, and a Super Bowl three-peat is absolutely a bold result.

Having Mahomes out there in this particular game is also vitally important for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs can clinch the No. 1 seed by beating the Texans 

It’s possible for the Chiefs to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs by taking out the Texans. Sure, they’d also need the red-hot 11-3 Buffalo Bills to lose to the 3-11 and fledgling New England Patriots at home in Orchard Park — which seems highly improbable — but the fact of the matter is that the possibility is certainly there. Stranger things happen every week in the NFL.

The Chiefs don’t need the top seed to win the Super Bowl — they went on the road last season at beat the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game — but Kansas City without a doubt has one of the best home field advantages in the sport at Arrowhead Stadium.

If the Chiefs can make the road to the Super Bowl go through Arrowhead, playing Mahomes against the Texans is well worth it. Even if they don’t clinch this weekend, staying ahead of the Bills is the way they’re going to do it, and that means they need to keep winning.

The Chiefs can keep building momentum 

Right now the Chiefs have momentum. They’ve won four in a row and perhaps even more important for their psyche, their win over the Browns was their first double-digit win since October 20th. The Chiefs have without a doubt been on the grind, and it’s not going to end any time soon.

They’ll play the currently 10-4 Steelers on Christmas Day and they’ll end the season with a road game against the playoff-hopeful Denver Broncos. The AFC is a gauntlet — the Chiefs know that better than most — but by playing Mahomes in what will surely end up being a tough contest against a game Texans team, Reid is giving his team a chance to stay hot.

They will still be the champions of the AFC West no matter if they win or lose to Houston, but especially in a season that has seen Kansas City collect quite a few “ugly wins”, getting one against another division winner in the Texans would put a whole new burst of momentum in Kansas City’s sails.

Could Carson Wentz do it? Sure, he was an MVP candidate at one point in his career, remember? That was back in 2017, though, which was a lifetime ago. For context, that was Mahomes’ rookie season. Wentz could lead the Chiefs to a win against the Texans with Reid pulling the strings, but then again, he’s thrown just two passes all year. Kansas City’s best chance at keeping this thing going is to stick with the one who got them this far, and that’s Mahomes.

If he says he’s healthy, and Reid believes he can go, it’s well worth the risk for the Chiefs.