After a devastating injury sidelined Patrick Mahomes and snapped a decade-long playoff streak, the Kansas City Chiefs have something to prove this season.
For the past decade, it has become normal to see the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason.
The Chief have won three Super Bowls in the past decade, but their streak of 10 straight postseason trips came to an end when they went just 6-11 in 2025.
Injuries plagued this team all year, and the torn ACL from quarterback Patrick Mahomes ruined any chances they had of making the playoffs.
However, the Chiefs can very well make another playoff run in 2026, especially with tight end Travis Kelce back for potentially his final year and Eric Bieniemy back in town as the offensive coordinator.
Eric Edholm of NFL.com named nine teams that are "under the microscope" this season, and Kansas City was at No. 3 on the list.
Edholm added that the Chiefs have been under the microscope since Mahomes was drafted, but failing to make the playoffs has become unheard of for this team.
The top two teams on the list were the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, respectively, but here's some of what Edholm wrote about Kansas City.
"The Broncos and Chargers both finished ahead of the Chiefs last season, with each team sweeping Kansas City in 2025. And the cellar-dwelling Raiders look far friskier after a big offseason. The Chiefs are in a spot they’ve not been in for quite some time -- having finished last season with six straight losses -- and many will be tuning in to see how they acquit themselves."
Edholm also mentions the worries about wide receiver Rashee Rice, who will see his 30-day jail sentence end in mid-June, although questions remain what the future holds for the oft-injured wide receiver.
And, the Denver Broncos won the AFC West and were the No. 1 seed in the AFC in 2025, and they arguably got a lot better by acquiring former Miami Dolphins star WR Jaylen Waddle in a blockbuster trade.
The Los Angeles Chargers are trying to make another playoff trip, and there are no favors for the Chiefs when it comes to the AFC West. Even the Las Vegas Raiders should be much improved with new faces and new head coach Klint Kubiak taking over for Pete Carroll.
The Chiefs should be a borderline playoff team in 2026, and a lot of that is only because it remains to be seen how effective Mahomes is after the ACL tear. But, if Mahomes is back to his Pro Bowl ways, the Chiefs could very well put together a Super Bowl run.
