The Kansas City Chiefs finished their immensely disheartening 2025 campaign with a final record of 6-11, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and finishing the season with a losing record for the first time since 2012.

What Happened?

The Chiefs, on paper, looked primed to compete for the Lombardi trophy once again, as their defense still had a number of both veteran and young talent to bolster from the defensive line all the way back to the secondary.

On offense, still led of course by legendary quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, with his favorite receiver of his career, tight end Travis Kelce, coming back for potentially one last ride. The only damper that the offense would be suffering through, seemingly, was the six-week suspension that wide receiver Rashee Rice would have to serve due to a car crash caused by the wide out back in March of 2024 that resulted in numerous injuries.

Besides this hiccup, there were still a number of promising receivers to work with, such as wide receiver Xavier Worthy in his sophomore season and fellow wide receiver Hollywood Brown. Another positive was the offensive line, which had been a problem for Kansas City at times during the 2024 campaign, however, center Creed Humphrey and rookie offensive tackle Josh Simmons were just a couple of a number of promising blockers that Mahomes would have at his disposal.

Unfortunately the writing on the paper did not automatically translate to success, as the offensive line was hampered by injuries constantly, as every starter, besides Humphrey, would eventually sustain an injury that would sideline them for at least a little while.

The receivers proved to once again not be as successful as hoped, especially before Rice returned in week seven. However, the real surprise was the immense struggle that Kelce seemed to face throughout the season.

Kelce would end up dropping a lot of passes that would hit right in the hands with a number of mistakes almost directly resulting in losses to teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles and the Houston Texans.

On defense, the status quo remained pretty much the same, as they would finish sixth in the NFL for points allowed, permitting an average of 19.3 points per game. However, it would not be enough in many cases for the struggling offense.

Mahomes did his best to juggle the offensive line and wide receiver issues, as the offense, while he was under center, scored about 23.4 points per game, but the real missing aspect of this team was the clutch factor.

This season, Mahomes went just 1-7 in one score games with five victories coming by numerous scores, a far cry from last season when the team went 12-0 in one score games. Despite the struggles, Kansas City still looked to make the playoffs somehow until all hope came crashing down in their 14th matchup of the season at home against the Los Angeles Chargers when Mahomes suffered an ACL tear.

Offseason Questions

The immediate question seems to be, will Mahomes be ready for next season? For an injury like this, typically it would be very difficult for a player to be back that season, however, Mahomes got surgery the day after he sustained the injury, not something that a player would typically do.

As of right now, there is optimism in the organization that Mahomes will be back in time due to his extraordinary work ethic. The question that remains however is will Travis Kelce return to the team for the 2026 campaign?

As of right now, there’s no clear indication on what will happen. Kelce seemingly has not decided yet, explaining on his podcast “New Heights” that “If my body can heal up and rest up and I feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 18, 20, 21 week run, I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

Free Agency

The Chiefs have a number of guys hitting free agency this offseason, most notably on the offense being running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt as well as wide receivers Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton. Kelce is also listed as a free agent, however, it is expected that if he does not retire, he will almost certainly be returning to the Chiefs organization.

On defense, Kansas City is potentially losing even more, most notably being cornerback Jaylen Watson, edge rusher Charles Omenihu, defensive tackle Derrick Nnnadi, and safety Bryan Cook. These four, along with many other solid contributors in both the linebacker core and secondary could prove to be costly to lose, as the Chiefs are currently over $58 million in the red with the worst cap space in the league.

Coaching Changes

With the roster looking the way that it did and still failing tremendously, many turned to the coaching staff as the ones to blame. Despite this, both of Kansas City’s offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators have gotten numerous looks from other teams for a head coaching job, mainly offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.

As of right now, Nagy has already interviewed with Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals with a scheduled interview with the Baltimore Ravens coming this Sunday. In all likelihood, Nagy will be hired as head coach by another team and the Chiefs will be in the market for a new offensive coordinator.

Already, a frontrunner has emerged, that being former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. This is due to the request of Mahomes, who previously had Kingsbury as his head coach at the University of Texas Tech back in his college days. Many fans have jumped at the idea, as Mahomes and Kingsbury had much success with each other and looks to be a potential upgrade from the much scrutinized reign by Nagy.

Future Outlook

The Chiefs look to have an interesting offseason that will bring in a number of new faces and switch things up after such a disastrous season. This will start first with Kelce’s announcement of his either return or departure and then the draft where Kansas City will have the ninth overall pick, their highest pick since drafting Mahomes tenth overall in 2017.

Many of the Chiefs faithful are excited by such an opportunity, however, it is still unclear what the team will do with the pick until some decisions in free agency have been made, such as whether they return running back Pacheco and/or Hunt.

There a number of exhilarating prospects on the board this year, as many Chiefs fans hope that running back Jeremiyah Love out of Notre Dame falls to No. 9, but with all of the pieces that Kansas City could be losing in the offseason, it is still very unclear what the front office will decide to do.

As of right now, there’s nothing that the Chiefs faithful can really do but sit back and watch as Kansas City attempts to rebuild itself after its empire collapsed right in front of them.