How NFL’s Roller-Coaster Season Has Hit the Chiefs Hardest

Coming into the 2025 season, many picked the Chiefs to have a shift in the things they are used to doing. Which, looking at it now, they were right, but not in the fashion that it is happening to the Chiefs.

They expected the Chiefs to win fewer games and have a tighter AFC West division this season, after the Chiefs had run away with the division for the last nine seasons. But no one expected what we are seeing from this team to be this bad and have an outcome like the one that is coming.

Even with taking a step back, many expected them to make the playoffs, and that is what led them to be contenders still. We know once a team gets to the playoffs, that it is a whole new season.

All the regular season stuff goes out the window, and it is one game, win or go home. And with the Chiefs' experience and who they have leading the way, that is what was making them contenders. This season has been a crazy one for the Chiefs and one they did not see coming as well.

kmj\ — Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is seen during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images | Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

Chiefs Went From Contenders to Pretenders

The Chiefs will likely not get the chance to be contenders because right now they are sitting 6-7, and with only four games to go, they will likely miss the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes ERA. That is how crazy this NFL season has been. No one would have believed anyone saying that the Playoffs would not have Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid in it.

"This season feels different. This season has unfolded differently. Consider the odds for the NFL’s best teams to win the next Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara, Calif., in about two months," said Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated.

Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) lowers his head during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

"Most oddsmakers made the usual suspects—Kansas City and Philadelphia—their preseason favorites. Various books included other perceived top contenders—Buffalo, Baltimore and San Francisco were the most prominent of those."

"The point: It’s hard to recall another, even relatively recent, NFL season like this one. Meaning: a year where there’s a favorite only because there has to be. In this 2025 NFL season, there really is … no favorite—parity, in other words, at the top."

ddd — Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks to Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images | Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

“I really think there are at least eight teams that can win it,” responded one general manager for an AFC team, in a text message exchange with Sports Illustrated. “Maybe 10.”

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