The sky isn’t falling for the Kansas City Chiefs.
For Chiefs’ fans, it may seem that way, now that their team has been knocked out of the NFL postseason for the first time since 2014.
A 10-year run saw Kansas City appear in five Super Bowls, winning three, with two coming back-to-back (2022 and 2023). In total, they collected eight American Football Conference titles since 2017. The Chiefs’ success during that time span was a success story equal to what the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers accomplished in their prime.
And as mighty as the New England Patriots proved to be—winning six Super Bowl Lombardi Trophies, the most of any NFL franchise—the team based in Boston captured but two American Football Eastern Conference championships during this same span.
Taking a breather from NFL supremacy, be it for a season or a longer period, should be expected, even if you’re the Chiefs. After ending the 2025 season at 6–11, a review of the roster for next season no doubt is already underway.
It will likely be more difficult in coming seasons for the Chiefs to continue their dominance in the AFC West. The Denver Broncos, winners of the division this season at 14–3, and the second-place Los Angeles Chargers’ 11–6 finish in 2025 indicate that the Chiefs will continue to be challenged by tough competition in coming campaigns.
Week 18 on the Chiefs’ schedule saw them go down in defeat to their lowly division rival Las Vegas Raiders (3–14) by a score of 14–12, to complete the 66th season in their franchise history.
The one common denominator of the Chiefs’ success since 2017 has been the duo of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid. By all indications, neither player nor coach are going anywhere. Reid’s deal with the Chiefs runs through the 2029 season. Mahomes’s contract status has him signed with Kansas City until the conclusion of the 2031 season.
During the Chiefs’ December 14 game with the Chargers, Mahomes went down with a serious injury. When tackled by San Diego’s defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand, Mahomes suffered a torn left ACL. Kansas City lost to the Chargers by 16–13, and the next day in Dallas, surgery was performed.
During Mahomes’s operation, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player also had a torn LCL repaired. Nine seasons into his professional career, Mahomes, 30, is aiming to be ready for the Chiefs’ 2026 season opener in Buffalo, New York. Typically, recovery from the medical repairs Mahomes has undergone calls for nine months to one year of rehabilitation.
However, Mahomes isn’t your typical patient. With access to the best therapists and equipment to bring strength and stability back to his knee, Week 1 of the 2026 schedule isn’t out of the question. During Mahomes first eight seasons with the Chiefs, he played an average of 17 games.
In the coming months, which will encompass the draft, followed by minicamps, and training camps in the summer, the shock of the injury may give way to cautious optimism. The first football tossed by Mahomes while working out should excite Chiefs’ fans immensely. And as more news is released concerning the progress of a planned new stadium in Wyandotte County, Kansas, with hopes of it being complete and operational for the 2031 season, fans may stop feeling that the sky is falling.
The fact that Kansas City won only one of its last nine games, against the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 23 in overtime 23–20, is obviously a point of concern for Reid and his staff. Overcoming the physical and psychological forces that took the Chiefs from Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, to a third-place finish in a four-team division is no doubt at the top of Reid’s “things to do list” this offseason.
After Mahomes went down in the Chargers game, the team looked to Gardner Minshew II, Chris Oladokun, and Shane Buechele to keep the offense moving forward. Buechele was plucked from the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad. Oladokun had one NFL game on his resume, and Minshew II was a backup quarterback who bounced around between five teams in seven seasons. Replacing Mahomes would be a Herculean event. Expecting to be competitive, even dominating without skipping a beat when arguably the best quarterback in the NFL suddenly exits the offense is preposterous.
The shock of experiencing an average, or even below average season will wear off in time. Great coaches and players are at their best when adversity is staring them in their eyes. Kansas City’s 2026 roster is stacked with exceptional young men anxious to turn the page on what many see as just a blip on the road to maintaining the dynasty.
