The Kansas City Chiefs had a disastrous 2025 season that saw the organization miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
The Kansas City Chiefs struggled mightily in 2025, something we haven’t seen since the team last missed the playoffs in 2014.
The Chiefs went 6-11 and watched its franchise quarterback and two-time Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes go down with a season-ending knee injury, marking the first time in his illustrious nine-year career that he wasn’t suiting up in a playoff game.
Mahomes suffered a torn left ACL and LCL in the final minutes of the Week 15 divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The loss officially marked the end of Kansas City’s playoff hopes, but it was likely the team would miss out regardless of how the rest of the season played out.
Mahomes underwent surgery the very next day, an uncommon practice, but one somebody that’s driven to be back for the start of the next season would partake in. Rehab has been going great, and Mahomes is working so hard to be ready for Week 1 that his doctors have told him to take it easy sometimes.
The hope was that he would be able to participate in OTAs and in training camp, and he already checked off the first thing on his list. He has been working with the team at OTAs and doing so with a large knee brace, but he looked like he was moving well in the social media clip of his dropback posted by the Chiefs.
Based on how hard Mahomes works and the roster improvements made by the front office, there’s a lot of reason to believe the 30-year-old could be in the running for his third MVP award.
ESPN staff released several bold predictions for the 2026 season, and Andscape’s senior writer Jason Reid threw out the prediction that Mahomes would win the award in an emphatic comeback.
“Last season, the Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes' nine-year career, and he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee,” Reid wrote Monday. “No matter. The three-time Super Bowl winner will return with a vengeance. He'll benefit from a formidable offensive line and a rushing attack led by Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III.”
The Chiefs lacked a good passing game due to many drops, but it really lacked because of how ineffective the running game was. Running backs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pachecho didn’t do nearly enough besides efficiency in short distances, but their departures opened the door for the Super Bowl MVP to sign a lucrative three-year deal to revamp the ground game.
Walker excels at explosive runs and is good in the passing game as well, opening up a lot more lanes and routes for Mahomes to cook.
With good protection and a great RB, Mahomes is more than capable of proving to the world he’s still the best QB in the league despite his age and injuries.
