The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t having the season they envisioned after coming off their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.
Kansas City is 6-10 and won’t be in the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Even when star quarterback and two-time Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes was healthy, the Chiefs weren’t great for several reasons. The Chiefs’ misfortunes in one-score games proved costly early on.
A team that has absolutely dominated opponents in one-score games in recent years (12-0 including playoffs in 2024), fell to just 1-8 in those games in 2025 after their most recent loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 17.
“Even looking past the prior season, the Chiefs and their legendary quarterback seemed inevitable,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote Monday. “It took something truly spectacular, such as the Eagles' pass rush in the prior season's Super Bowl, to overcome a Chiefs team that seemed like it would always pull out the close ones.
“Instead, after losing to the Chargers the prior week in Brazil, the Chiefs weren't able to pull out another one-score game against the Eagles at home. This one wasn't as close as it seemed, as it took a Tyquan Thornton score with three minutes to go to bring the Chiefs within three points, at which point Jalen Hurts and the Philly offense ran out the clock with a tush push to end the proceedings.”
Despite the 0-2 start, the Chiefs battled back to .500 and had a lot of games left to right their wrongs. However, there were too many underlying problems for the Chiefs to overcome down the stretch.
“The Chiefs went on a two-game winning streak after starting 0-2, but the issues they dealt with early in the season lingered,” Barnwell added. “Mahomes turned the ball over too often in key spots. The running game couldn't produce any explosive plays. The pass rush didn't get home often enough, and the secondary couldn't hold up when the blitz failed. And a year after the Chiefs always seemed to find a way to pull out a victory when the game was tight, their opponents seemed to beat them to the punch. Coach Andy Reid's team is 1-8 in games decided by seven points or fewer after a narrow loss to the Broncos on Christmas Day.”
This uncharacteristic season put a lot of pressure on Mahomes to be Superman and try to will his team into the postseason. Mahomes was already bothered by a knee injury leading up to the game against the Los Angeles Chargers when he tore his left ACL and PCL. How did he tear those ligaments? He fought as hard as he could to keep his team alive.
Mahomes underwent surgery the very next day, which is unusual, but so is he. He is rehabbing with a Week 1 return in mind for 2026.