With Bye Week Upon Them, Chiefs Can Revel In Some Quarter-Season Accolades

No team has fashioned a more impressive turnaround at the one-quarter mark of the 2026 NFL season than the Kansas City Chiefs.

After 2025 ended with an uncharacteristic 6-11 record courtesy of six consecutive losses to close out the campaign, many were correct to wonder if we were witnessing the death rattle of the Chiefs' dynasty.

After all, franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes was rehabbing a surgically repaired knee, haziness surrounded Travis Kelce's future as a viable starting tight end and rumors had even started to surface that iconic head coach Andy Reid may have been mulling retirement.

Well, the doldrums of January 2026 seem pretty insignificant now as Mahomes has returned as good as ever, Kelce is having a renaissance season and Reid just keeps doing what he does best, leading the Chiefs to victories, specifically four straight to open the season as they get ready to enjoy their bye on Sunday.

At 4-0, Kansas City is one of three undefeated teams in the league, joining the San Francisco 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings, and the only one in the AFC. If the playoffs started today, they'd enjoy a wild-card round bye before likely facing either the Cleveland Browns (another candidate for best turnaround) or Baltimore Ravens in a divisional-round playoff game.

The Chiefs' impressive rebound has caught the attention of at least two writers for The Athletic.

In a piece published on Oct. 7, Mike Jones hands out his quarter-season superlatives and Kansas City is well-represented.

Most prominently, he lists the Chiefs as the "Best Team," writing; "Thanks to a bolstered rushing attack and young defensive reinforcements, the Chiefs boast one of the most well-rounded rosters in the league. Patrick Mahomes has displayed no ill effects from December’s season-ending knee surgery, and he no longer has to shoulder such a heavy load. Throw in coach Andy Reid’s experience, creativity and leadership, and the Chiefs appear primed for continued excellence."

That leads into the second honor for the Chiefs. When Kansas City signed running back Kenneth Walker III to a three-year, $43-million free-agent deal in March, reactions were mixed. Some lauded the addition of the reigning Super Bowl MVP to a Chiefs' backfield that had been in flux, while others were a bit skeptical about throwing that much money at a position that had become "devalued" in today's NFL.

After four games, the Walker signing has been the equivalent of a walk-off grand slam, quadruple double, natural hat trick or any other sports-related superlative you can think of.

That also prompted Jones to call Walker the league's "Best Offseason Signing": "The Chiefs placed a high priority on upgrading Mahomes’ supporting cast, and arming the quarterback with a potent rushing attack was step No. 1," he wrote. "Walker, the Super Bowl LX MVP, left Seattle...and now leads the NFL with 537 rushing yards. He has helped recharge an offense that leads the AFC in total yards per game and rushing yards per game while ranking sixth overall in points scored."

With Jones also opining that "running backs still matter," and pointing out that eight of the league's top 10 rushing teams owning winning records, he lists Walker, along with Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson, as a legitimate MVP candidate, joining a field that includes Mahomes (natch) and fellow signal-callers Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.

In his piece on Oct. 8, The Athletic's Saad Yousuf writes that the Chiefs have the second-best chance of winning the Super Bowl, while noting that the usually undesirable early bye week may have come at the perfect time.

"It’s rare for an early-season bye week to feel like the perfect time, but this really is a time the Chiefs need a week off," he wrote. "Kenneth Walker III has been great but the injuries last week to Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton are significant. Thornton is out for a while but the bye week could get Rice back in the lineup for an offense that is multi-dimensional and humming along."

For the record, Yousuf said the 49ers have the best chance of winning the Super Bowl at the season's quarter-pole mark, with the Jaguars, Bills and Seattle Seahawks lined up directly behind the Chiefs.

While all of this involves a lot of speculation and guesswork with 13 regular-season games still to be played, it should make for some comforting reading for the Chiefs and their fans as they put their feet up on Sunday before getting back into the grind against the Los Angeles Chargers in SoFi Stadium on Oct. 18.