It’s 11 minutes into a Chiefs win here in Cleveland, the team’s first double-digit victory in eight weeks, and the most relevant story is the car speeding toward the visitors’ locker room.

Within seconds, Patrick Mahomes – a backseat passenger in that car – emerges from the double doors, still partially in uniform but under his own power. A series of tests on his injured right ankle are pending.

The appropriate final line from Cleveland: Chiefs 21, Browns 7.

And the x-ray is negative.

The Chiefs are 13-1 for just the second time in franchise history, a blowout en route to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and their only bye, but there’s one lingering question hanging over their season:

What’s wrong with Patrick Mahomes?

Oh, that’s what I meant before the injury to the right ankle.

Mahomes had to make a hard tackle on an incomplete fourth down Sunday afternoon, let him walk cautiously as he left the field and then left the game entirely. He would have stayed in the game if the Browns were still competitive – or Were they ever competitive?.

The coming week will include a difficult rehab period for Mahomes. The severity of his injury depends in part on the resulting swelling. But we’ve seen this enough times to know how this part of the plot plays out.

Would you really bet against him playing at home in the Chiefs’ next game on Saturday?

We know he returned to a game against Jacksonville two postseasons ago – he threw away his jacket in a fit at the thought of missing just a few games. We learned he begged to return to a game after dislocating his kneecap in a regular-season game against the Broncos.

This is not to compare these cases.

It’s about contrasting them.

An injury to Patrick Mahomes used to be the start of a problem. Now it is the impact of perhaps an even greater one.

The Chiefs offense stinks with him – forget what it would be like without him.

Mahomes completed exactly half of 38 passes on Sunday, the lowest completion rate in a game of his career. Overall, he managed just 4.2 yards per pass attempt, the second-worst mark of his career. And what’s also striking personally is that he often bypassed one open receiver in favor of another.

“I just have to do a better job of going through my progressions and trusting the offense,” he said. “I take the ball out of my hands and let the boys play.

“It’s in my nature to make the big game a reality. Sometimes defenses prevent this. If it’s not there, reach for the things underneath and keep them moving. (It’s) something I need to improve on to get to the playoffs.”

Sounds great.

A huge obstacle: protection.

Look, the noticeable limp he had as he walked to the sideline isn’t a cause for concern about what might be troubling this Chiefs offense. It’s a symptom of what’s already plaguing it.

You absolutely can’t protect him.

According to ESPN Analytics, Mahomes was pressured on 54% of his dropbacks, the highest rate he has seen in a game since 2020. I know a common reaction to this injury will be that his head coach Andy Reid shouldn’t ask him to drop 40 times back.

That’s right.

But usually for a completely different reason.

In a league where you have to throw the ball effectively, the dropback is no longer the Chiefs’ most effective play. Their offensive line won’t allow that.

A five-step drop naturally prepares a battered and injured quarterback to absorb another hit. But far more often it leads to another offensive error.

The Chiefs preferably The drive totaled 21 yards on their first five possessions Sunday. Your best ride.

Not to be outdone, the Chiefs scored on four straight possessions in the third quarter, gaining a total of 10 yards on 15 plays. In that third quarter, the Chiefs fell behind on eight consecutive offensive snaps.

This is how these eight pieces developed:

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Incomplete.

Mahomes was 3 of 13 overall in the third quarter. Still, they kept trying.

“In this league, you have to be able to throw the ball,” Reid said when I asked about his persistence in throwing the ball. “That’s how it works.”

He’s not wrong.

He continued: “You were at the game. Our runs didn’t go so well either.”

He has a point, although I’ll point out that the Chiefs were leading 21-0 at the start of this streak of incompletions. And if both things – running, passing – don’t work, it might be ideal to use the one that takes at least some time so you can get out of town as quickly as possible.

And yes, it’s more than just a nice bonus to give your quarterback a breather.

But let’s be honest: This obscures the problem, not solves it.

The Chiefs started Joe Thuney at left tackle on Sunday, their fourth starting left tackle this year. Reid praised his willingness to make the move, but Myles Garrett also enjoyed the move. A handful for most teams, Garrett, the Browns’ All-Pro edge rusher, pressured Mahomes eight times, including six of 24 chances (25%) against Thuney, according to NFL Pro. Five of these were pressures in less than 2 1/2 seconds.

It’s a Band-Aid for a broken arm, and the Chiefs don’t have a full sling on the sideline. The fact that Thuney was more effective and less flashy than other options tried in previous games is not a good development.

It’s an admission of how bad it was.

And Thuney’s move to left tackle frees up the Chiefs’ greatest offensive strength to date – their run blocking up the middle. Reid noticed the running game wasn’t working Sunday.

Well, the trio of Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith playing side by side created one of the most prolific running games in the league. They are no longer next to each other.

That weakened the running game. This did not solve the pass protection. So far there has been nothing.

We’ll learn more about what awaits Mahomes in the next day or two.

But what’s most concerning for the Chiefs’ future? What is right in front of him?