Chiefs Must Use Bye to Get Right in AFC West

The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of work to do in their Week 10 bye. Going into their latest game against the Buffalo Bills, they had looked unstoppable with Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy back in the lineup. The Chiefs went from having a completely depleted and lifeless offense to one of the deepest arsenals in the entire NFL with their top two wide receivers back.

Since getting Worthy back, KC went 4-1 up to their clash with the Bills. In that span, they averaged over 31 points per game. The Chiefs also won their first two games with Rashee Rice back after serving his six-week suspension. All of the goodwill and optimism they earned with their two premier weapons back in the lineup quickly dissipated against Buffalo, though.

The Chiefs struggled mightily in that game, falling short 28-21 with Patrick Mahomes putting up one of his worst performances to date. The two-time MVP failed to find the end zone — through the air or on the ground — completed just 44 percent of his passes, and threw an interception on Kansas City's last sustained drive.

Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, Buffalo Bills, Travis Kelce — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce puts on his helmet getting ready to take the field during first half action at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Nov. 2, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chiefs are flailing

4-2 in their last six games certainly isn't the end of the world for the Kansas City Chiefs. However, due to their poor 1-2 start to the 2025 season with Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy out, they're now staring down a 5-4 record halfway through the year.

They're currently out of the playoff picture, eighth in the AFC conference. If the season ended today, they'd lose out on a Wild Card spot to the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, and Jacksonville Jaguars. There's still plenty of time for them to climb the standings before the end of the regular season, but they have to be impeccable coming out of the bye.

Teams around them in the standings are surging, too. Kansas City's best chance at guaranteeing itself a postseason bid is still winning the AFC West outright. The Chiefs are currently third in the division, behind the Chargers and the Denver Broncos. They're also just 1-1 in their division games, after falling to LA in the season opener.

Despite their middling record so far, the Chiefs still have pretty favorable odds to claim the AFC West. FanDuel has them listed at +130 to win the division, vastly ahead of the injury-riddled Chargers at +410. However, they're behind the 7-2 Broncos at +125. Clearly, there's still a lot of belief in Kansas City, but it needs to come out of the bye swinging to justify that optimism.

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