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With only the slightest of chances to hang on, and dangling from a tattered lifeline, the Kansas City Chiefs dropped out of postseason contention Sunday in a typical, frustrating, all-too-familiar 13-10 loss to the visiting LA Chargers.
The dynasty was damaged. An incredible surge of success was halted. In 2025 a great team became a vulnerable team, and then a loser, and the pain intensified when the conquered Chiefs lost their quarterback and leader.
In what can sadly be described as a fitting metaphor for Kansas City’s big-hurt season, quarterback Patrick Mahomes lurched off the field late in Sunday’s game with a shredded ACL in his left knee. The NFL’s best quarterback already had surgery, and it’s too soon to know if No. 15 will be ready to play by the start of the 2026 regular season.
After competing in seven consecutive AFC Championship Games with Mahomes as their North Star, football hero, and game-saver, the Chiefs have deteriorated into normalcy in a league that is set up to forestall dynasties and promote parity.
With three games to go in their season, the Chiefs are 6-8. That would be considered a breakthrough for the hideous Titans, Raiders, Jets, Giants, Browns, Cardinals, and Saints. But in Kansas City 6-8 is a breakdown. As records go, 6-8 is brutal for a franchise that’s been at the top of professional sports.
Since 2014, when Andy Reid became their head coach, the Chiefs defiantly soared above the system that couldn’t pull them down to earth.
Over the last 12 seasons, KC’s .711 regular-season winning percentage is substantially higher than Green Bay’s second-ranked winning percentage of 63 percent.
During the Reid Era the Chiefs lead the NFL in most postseason games (25), and most playoff victories (18). After Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs have won the most division titles (7), the most conference championships (5) and most Super Bowl trophies (3) than any NFL team.
And while it would be premature to declare that Kansas City’s dynasty died in 2025, we could look at the misfortune as a pause, an interruption or disruption.
That said, the Chiefs have a lot to mend, fix and build back up. Their absence from the 2025 postseason will give Reid and GM Brett Veach some time to think, plan and update the roster.
And while no Chiefs fan in Kansas City and St. Louis wanted the good times to turn into hard times – this downturn could actually be beneficial.
— The NFL draft is an example. Kansas City’s dreamlike run came with a price: their annual position in the first round. Except for the times that the Chiefs have traded their own draft picks to move up in the first round to get access to a coveted player, the Chiefs have rummaged through what’s left on the board near the bottom of the first round. And because of their trade-up moves, KC didn’t have a first-round pick in 2016, 2018, 2019 or 2021.
— This team has played a lot of football, and there’s got to be some burnout in that. With Mahomes as the quarterback since 2018, Kansas City has played 116 regular-season games and 21 postseason win-or-else showdowns. If we include the final three regular-season games in 2025 – even though Mahomes won’t be playing – the Chiefs will have averaged 20 games per season over the last seven campaigns.
— No other NFL team is close to that. And the 21 postseason games? The postseason is extremely intense and overloaded with pressure and demands and distractions and extra media and all of the rest. Over time, that takes a lot out of a team’s core roster nucleus … even with the inevitable roster changes from year to year. Get some rest, Chiefs.
— Next, the Chiefs have been putting off some obvious chores. Multiple versions of the team’s offensive line haven’t done a dependable job of protecting Mahomes.
— There are no elite receivers … truly elite receivers. Just some No. 2s and 3s that don’t frighten a defense. And Travis Kelce, the future Hall of Fame tight end – has lost his speed.
— Reid is unquestionably one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. But he’s become ambivalent about the running game, and there are consequences for that. There’s more of the burden on Mahomes to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history – on every dang snap.
And why has all of this happened? Because the Chiefs have relied on Mahomes to cover all the flaws, be their superhuman, and fight off the villain to save the village time after time after time. How did Mahomes respond to close calls in games that could have gone either way?
This: from 2018 through 2024, and including the postseason, the Chiefs had a 54-21 record in games determined by a one-score margin. That’s a glistening .720 winning percentage. But the levee broke in 2025, with Mahomes and his men going 1-7 in one-score outcomes.
Given the increasing number of this team’s cavities, the Chiefs must supplement Mahomes with a more complete roster instead of expecting him to compensate for the mediocrity in his midst. In 2025, we saw Mahomes display some weaknesses in his game for the first time. Having to carry a team is one thing; Mahomes can handle that. But having to carry a team that has a lower level of talent? That must be exhausting. Even for Mahomes.
Mahomes must be pretty damn close to perfect. And it’s no surprise to see him crack a bit when he is obligated to be excellent and unbeatable. The shortcomings in Mahomes’ performance in 2025 were not his fault. That’s true for the most part. But his slippage was a symptom of a larger problem.
Consider all of this from Mahomes’ 2025 profile:
1. Accuracy and efficiency. Among the 32 quarterbacks that have at least 200 passing attempts this season, Mahomes ranks 23rd in completion percentage, 25th in catchable-ball rate, 17th in on-target rate, 19th in standard passer efficiency rating, and 20th in the advanced efficiency rating used by Sports Info Solutions. These numbers are down Mahomes’ norms through 2024. And in some of the categories I’ve cited here, Mahomes’ rankings are worse than Justin Fields, Jaxson Dart, Daniel Jones, Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagovailala and Joe Flacco.
2. Performance in high-leverage spots. As we noted earlier, the Chiefs are 1-7 this season in one-score games. And in all eight of their losses the Chiefs led the game in the fourth quarter – or had the ball with an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Let’s look at the situational football and Mahomes’ numbers in the fourth quarter with both teams within one score of each other.
Among 16 NFL quarterbacks who up to this point attempted at least 50 passes in those situations, Mahomes was last in completion percentage (50%), 15th in adjusted yards per passing attempt, threw the most interceptions (five), had four TD passes, and ranked 15th in passer efficiency rating. His numbers were bleak on third-down passes in these close and late scenarios.
3. Watch out! Mahomes faced the highest volume of pass-rush pressure (57.1%) by an NFL quarterback in one-score situations in the fourth quarter.
4. Third downs were a struggle for Mahomes this season. Among 26 NFL quarterbacks that have at least 70 third-down passing attempts Mahomes ranked 21st in completion percentage, had the fourth-worst interception rate, threw more INTs (6), than touchdowns (4) and ranked 22nd in passing efficiency. And: he was under pass-rush pressure on 51 percent of his dropbacks on third down.
5. Bad hands. Mahomes’ receivers – in all situations – have dropped 25 passes this season, fourth-most in the NFL.
6. Deep balls, deep trouble. For the third consecutive season Mahomes was ineffective on passes that traveled at least 20 yards through the air. He completed 21 of 61 (34.4%) with a touchdown and three interceptions and his 66.2 passer rating on deeper throws ranked 25th in the league – behind rookies Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart. Pass protection is a factor in this.
Though Mahomes would obviously disagree – knee surgery isn’t fun – he could use a break. Hopefully by the time he recovers and is ready to play again will have better receivers, more reliable pass protection, and a rushing attack he can lean on.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach.
Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.