The Chiefs have been inevitable for a long time. There’s an entire generation of young football fans who have no memory of Kansas City being anything but elite, led to consistent greatness by Patrick Mahomes’ arm, Travis Kelce’s hands, Chris Jones’ motor, and Andy Reid’s mustache. No matter what problems appeared on paper, or the issues that presented themselves on the field, the Chiefs always had a MacGyver-like way of escaping problems to return to greatness.
Then 2025 came along, an early losing streak, and finally a trap that Kansas City couldn’t Houdini their way out of. Now the franchise is at the crossroads for the first time in over a decade, and there’s a lot of soul searching to do.
There is nothing that can take away how impressive the Chiefs were in 2023. This was a team that battled through having mediocre weapons, and questionable talent outside of a handful of transcendent players to win a string of one-score games, then move through the playoffs with superior coaching, and win another Super Bowl. It not only shut up everyone who doubted the Chiefs, but established them as a terrifying team to watch in 2024 — because it was assured that the Chiefs would upgrade at several key positions. While Kansas City did improve, and they did make it back to the Super Bowl, this time they were overmatched — but again, the expectation was that the Chiefs could somehow get even better because of all the areas they were lacking.
There’s no sugar coating what a disappointment this year was. Everything collapsed, and the tough part is that there aren’t any excuses. The Chiefs got bodied, time and time again, opening the fissures in the roster and turning them into caverns. Now Kansas City is facing a season-ending injury for Patrick Mahomes’ with a torn ACL in his left knee, and there’s no real reason to even think of starting him in these final meaningless football games.
The question now is how big this reset needs to be, and only the Chiefs can answer these questions. Obviously Mahomes will be back, and he’ll be fine — but there can’t be deference to a bygone era anymore. Tough decisions are going to have to be made, and there’s a lot of longstanding veterans who don’t have a place anymore, so long as Kansas City is serious about trying to compete again.
This season marked the third straight year of Travis Kelce’s regression. In terms of tight ends he’s still a high-tier talent, but Kelce is no longer someone who can carry the Chiefs’ offense. There were far too many times that Mahomes looked for Kelce on a critical third down and was met with either a dropped pass, his target being just out of position, or seeing his once-reliable target unable to get the separation he needed to feel comfortable making a throw. Kelce is on pace for a career-low in first down catches, which is what so much of this Chiefs offense was predicated on.
The running game needs a total overhaul. Relying on Isaiah Pacheco and the ghosts of running backs past in Kareem Hunt and Clyde Edwards-Helaire didn’t do the team any favors in taking pressure off the passing game and forcing Mahomes to bail out the offense with hero ball.
The offensive line isn’t good enough. In 2025 we saw Mahomes under pressure on 23.5% of his pass attempts, which is the highest pressure rating he faced since his rookie season. Meanwhile the run game averaged 4.4 yards-per-attempt, which was a small improvement — but not at the expense of the passing game taking a step back.
Chiefs receivers weren’t great. Hollywood Brown isn’t effective anymore. JuJu Smith-Schuster is cooked. Xavier Worthy is inconsistent. Rashee Rice might not be a true No. 1 receiver long term. There’s so much work to do on the offensive side of the ball to make Mahomes’ life easier, because there’s too much at stake to have his career peter out because you didn’t do enough to support him.
The saving grace from all this is that the defense is still very, very good and the bright spot of this organization right now. Chris Jones had a down year by his very high standards, but was still one of the best interior linemen in the league. Meanwhile George Karlaftis is quickly becoming one of the best young pass rushers in the league, and the secondary is still great.
All this was wrapped up and distilled in a loss to the Chargers. Los Angeles is a good team, but not a great one. Its the kind of game the Chiefs of the past would have asserted themselves in more, instead of limping to a sad finish to their season.
The soul searching begins now. With this many holes to plug it might be time to question whether the structure in place is the right one. Is the correct move to have Andy Reid usher in a new era that requires a partial rebuild? Or is it time to turn this team over to Steve Spagnuolo, who appears to be the heir apparent in Kansas City? It’s not a question of ability, but pragmatism. Reid remains one of the best coaches in the NFL, one of the greatest of all time. There still needs to be a very candid conversation about how long Reid wanted to keep this going. Had the Chiefs found a way to win the Super Bowl would he have retired? How much more is his heart in this? Does he have the fortitude to oversee the overhaul that needs to happen now?
For the first time in over a decade the Chiefs have real questions to answer. Existential questions about the future of their organization. How they handle the next six months will establish their trajectory for the next 10 years. This is the first time in forever that Kansas City enters an offseason with more questions than answers.
And now onto the rest of the winners and losers in Week 15.
Winner: Trevor Lawrence
This is a cautionary tale in why you never write off a quarterback too soon. There’s been a lot of “BUST” talk around T-Law this season, and at times it’s been understandable — but Sunday’s performance against the Jets was the culmination of what Lawrence has quietly been doing for weeks now.
Sure, you can write this performance off with the understanding that the Jets are a dumpster fire, but the Trevor Lawrence of a year ago didn’t have the tools to throw for over 300 yards, with five passing touchdowns, and another on the ground. This is the effect that Liam Coen’s offense has had on Jacksonville, which has finally given Lawrence the tools and confidence to play at the level he was always capable of.
We’ve said time and time again that QB talent is vastly overrated when players enter the league, and the differentiating factor is the fit. Remember this when you next write off a QB, because this season alone we have Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, and Daniel Jones (before injury) all shining in a new situation. This stuff matters.
Winner: The Bills
Buffalo didn’t necessarily need this win to solidify a playoff spot or save their season, but they needed it to know that this team still has it. The Bills aren’t willing to go gently into that good night when it comes to abandoning being the best team in the AFC East, at least not yet.
Going into Foxboro and wrestling a win away from the AFC East leader was a statement for the playoffs as much as anything else. If these teams meet again in the playoffs, as they very well could, it made them know that they can go toe-to-toe with New England and walk away the victor. Those kind of things are important in a season, even if they seem like small victories in the moment.
Loser: The Panthers being their own worst enemy
What a kick in the teeth for fans in Carolina. Fate handed the Panthers a chance to move ahead into an almost-guaranteed NFC South win for the first time in a decade, and they totally crapped the bed in New Orleans. It was a masterpiece in beating themselves, as a typically-disciplined team gave up 103 yards in 11 penalties, went to a soft prevent defense in the fourth quarter with no teeth, and made some inexplicable key play calls that doomed the team on offense.
Bryce Young is the lightning rod for criticism in Carolina, but oftentimes he’s the figurehead for the deeper issues of this franchise. The Panthers’ consistent inconsistency is far beyond the pale, and as goofy as their nonsensical nature is, at the same time there need to be answers. Losing 12-straight games when you’re the favorite is symptomatic of larger issues. Managing to beat the NFL’s best teams, and lose to its worst ones is an abomination.
If nothing else, someone needs to explain how running a prevent defense inside the red zone when you’re up by one score makes sense, because I’ve never seen anything like it. The Saints won, but the Panthers beat themselves.
Loser: Joe Burrow
Welcome to the emo Joe Burrow era. This is a man who already went through his dyed hair phase, and he’s quickly moving to locking his door, playing songs by “The Cure,” and writing dramatic poetry about his parents.
You know things are getting weird when Ja’Marr Chase is talking about needing to be Joe’s therapist through a difficult time.
We have to get everyone with talent out of Cincinnati before it’s too late. Too many promising careers have gone there to die.