Seeing Red: Chiefs Putting Significant Streaks on Line This Week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Andy Reid said Monday that he expects a much different team to show up for a Super Bowl rematch with the Eagles.

“I think the guys, they’ll be fired up to play against a real good football team,” the head coach said. “And at home. I wouldn't expect anything less than that.”

Maybe that’s because when they arrive on Sunday, they’ll see traditional red jerseys hanging inot their Arrowhead Stadium lockers. The Chiefs when wearing their home uniforms enter Sunday’s showdown against Philadelphia (3:25 p.m. CT, FOX/WDAF Channel 4, 96.5 The Fan) with a 14-game winning streak – including postseason – in their red tops.

Davante Adams, Patrick Mahomes — Dec 25, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) embraces Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams (17) after the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The last time the Chiefs lost a game in their red jerseys was Christmas Day, 2023, a 20-14 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The current red-clad streak includes the frigid wild-card win over Miami in the 2023 playoffs, the overtime Super Bowl triumph over San Francisco and a 2024 road game at Cleveland, where Trent McDuffie registered his elusive first career interception.

Dec 15, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie (22) celebrates his interception with teammates against the Cleveland Browns during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Another streak on the line

The other streak on the line Sunday, the more dubious string, is two straight regular-season losses. Kansas City has played 121 straight regular-season games since it last lost three games in a row. According to Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the NFL’s longest active stretch of games without such a losing streak.

Buffalo ranks second at 107.

The Chiefs’ current losing streak (regular-season games only) includes a meaningless 38-0 loss at Denver in the 2024 finale. In that game, Kansas City rested its starters having already secured homefield advantage in the AFC playoffs. The Chiefs also saw their comeback fall short in a 27-21 season-opening loss to the Chargers Friday in Brazil.

Last losing streak

Kansas City hasn’t lost three-or-more games in succession over the entirety of Patrick Mahomes’ career as a starting quarterback. The Chiefs’ last such streak was four straight losses from Nov. 5 to Dec. 3, 2017, setbacks at Dallas, at the New York Giants (overtime), home against Buffalo and back at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets.

The Chiefs then closed the regular season with four straight wins, including Mahomes’ first NFL start in a season-finale at Denver on Dec. 31, 2017. One week later, in Alex Smith’s final game with the Chiefs, Kansas City dropped a wild-card playoff game at home to Tennesee, 22-21.

More importantly for Kansas City this week, the Chiefs want to avoid their first 0-2 start in 11 years. That’s because 0-2 records in the NFL have caused teams to miss the postseason at an 87.8-percent clip over the last 35 years (1990-2024).

Per Elias, since the NFL expanded postseason teams to 12 in 1990, clubs that begin seasons 0-2 have gone on to secure playoff berths only 12.2 percent of the time. Since 1990, 35 of 288 teams that began 0-2 made the postseason. And over the same period, just 136 of the 541 teams that started 0-1 (25.1 percent) qualified for the playoffs.

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