Detailing the True Source of Chiefs’ Offensive Woes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Philip Rivers is a 44-year-old grandfather. What does he have to do with the 2025 Kansas City Chiefs?

Well, if the former Chargers and Colts quarterback comes out of retirement for Indianapolis this week, he could play a role in the Chiefs’ postseason hopes. Down its top two quarterbacks, Indianapolis is in dire straits ahead of Sunday’s game at Seattle.

And if the Seahawks win, and Kansas City can beat the Chargers earlier in the day, the Chiefs will still be alive.

Bandwagon parachutes

But passengers on the Chiefs bandwagon are fighting over parachutes this week. NFL insider Albert Breer has been a strong believer in Kansas City this season.

“It's time for me to step down off of that a little bit,” he said Tuesday on this week’s edition of the Breer Report, “because I'm not sure that they're going to be able to win four playoff games in a row.”

Playoff games because any loss over the last four games would extinguish the Chiefs’ postseason hopes, beginning Sunday against the Chargers (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

Continuity has been a struggle for Chiefs offense

Like most of the 8.1 billion people on Earth, Breer can’t understand how Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have fallen to 6-7 in December. His best reasoning is that the Chiefs are following the road that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady navigated during their down years.

“Patrick Mahomes is one of the greatest of all-time,” Breer said. “Andy Reid’s one of the greatest of all-time. So, you don't want to doubt those people in these sorts of situations. But I've compared them to those Patriots a lot.

“And the one thing I remember about those Patriots for 20 years with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, was when you're reasoning for them winning a championship, it boiled down to … when that was where you were looking, and there wasn't a whole lot to help, something else to hang your hat on, that was when they wound up losing in the playoffs.”

rashee rice, kareem hun — Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4) and Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) celebrate after a touchdown during the third quarter against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images | Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

In other words, Breer sees Mahomes and Reid as lacking offensive pieces to win one-score games, contests they’ve won in the past.

“It's Reid and Mahomes and that's it,” he said. “And that's not a great place to be. You want to be able to win different ways when you get to January and February, and the Chiefs have gotten to February so many times over the course of the last six years.”

reid, mahome — Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid (left) with quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) after defeating the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In preparation for a potential January autopsy, Breer said past personnel decisions have hurt the Chiefs this year. Specifically, drafting Rashee Rice and Josh Simmons were big gambles, he believes.

“Rashee Rice,” he said, “you lost six weeks with him early in the year. Again, that was another example of the Chiefs taking a risk in the draft and winding up paying for the risk that they took there. There were questions about Rashee Rice off the field, and an off-field issue kept him off for six weeks earlier this year.

josh simmon — Sep 28, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia (76) and offensive tackle Josh Simmons (71) at the line of scrimmage against the Baltimore Ravens during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

“You've just had so many moving parts on the offensive side of the ball, and that's been leaning back on some guys that you've relied on in the past, and those guys are older and harder to rely on now.”

All that said, Breer sides with most if the Chiefs can somehow win their last four games and get into the tournament. No one will want to play them in the wild-card round.

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