The Kansas City Chiefs are staring at another uneasy season, at least if one CBS Sports prediction is any indication.
Douglas Clawson included Kansas City in his bold calls for every NFL team before Week 1, and his view was simple: the Chiefs could miss the playoffs again. That would mean back-to-back years out of the postseason after a 2025 campaign that ended at 6-11 and snapped a decade-long streak of playoff berths.
Kansas City’s slide last season came with a major explanation. Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and missed the final stretch, leaving the Chiefs to finish without their superstar quarterback. Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers both took big steps forward and reached the playoffs, adding more pressure to a division that suddenly looks a lot less forgiving.
Mahomes has been grinding to be ready for Week 1, and the expectation is that he’ll open the season against the Broncos on Monday Night Football. But that doesn’t erase the questions hanging over the roster.
Clawson pointed to several of them in his prediction. “The Chiefs are amazingly the only team without a 1,000-yard rusher or receiver in the past three seasons.
Rashee Rice can't stay on the field, Xavier Worthy hasn't turned all-world speed into production and Travis Kelce doesn't have much left in the tank. Chris Jones is on the decline and the defense lost most of its starting secondary.
It all adds up to another disappointing season in Kansas City and the need to reinvent themselves in 2027,” Clawson wrote.
There are still reasons to think Kansas City can push back against that kind of outlook. Kelce is back for what is expected to be his final NFL season, and the Chiefs addressed the backfield by signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency to give them an every-down running back. They also welcomed Eric Bieniemy back as offensive coordinator, hoping to recapture some of the old Mahomes-Tyreek Hill rhythm.
Even so, the path through the AFC looks crowded. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens are among the teams expected to make noise, and that’s before even getting to the Chargers, Broncos, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
For Kansas City, so much comes back to Mahomes. If he looks like himself after the injury, the Chiefs have a real chance to steady the ship. If he doesn’t, Bieniemy’s role becomes even more critical, even with Walker in place to take some of the load off.
In Other News...
Chiefs Quietly Closed The Door On A Familiar Quarterback Option
The Chiefs have moved on from a familiar face in their quarterback room, waiving Chris Oladokun with an injury designation after a preseason that never really gave him a path back into the picture. Oladokun, who started Kansas Citys final two games last season when injuries thinned the depth chart, had been part of a group that looked far different this summer after the team reworked the position by adding Justin Fields and drafting Garrett Nussmeier.
Oladokuns release leaves him in a holding pattern unless another team steps in, and if he goes unclaimed he will revert to injured reserve. The change also came with a small but telling detail: Nussmeier has already taken over Oladokuns jersey number, a quiet sign that the Chiefs are fully resetting the pecking order behind center after preseason struggles and the concussion protocol complicated Oladokuns push to stick. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Mahomes Family Situation Could Affect Chiefs Sideline Storyline This Season
Patrick Mahomes Sr. is trying to work his way back onto the road in time to see more of his sons games, filing a motion in Texas court that would let him travel out of state for seven Kansas City Chiefs contests this season. The request comes with a long list of conditions, including urinalysis testing before and after trips, and it still has to clear the court before any plans can be set in stone.
For the Chiefs, it adds another layer to a sideline storyline that already draws attention whenever Patrick Mahomes Jr. takes the field. His father remains on probation with travel restrictions after multiple DWI offenses and violations, so even a simple game-day visit now depends on legal approval. Whether that opens the door to more of those appearances this year is still in the hands of the court. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Still Face One Huge Question Behind Andy Reid
Andy Reid has given Kansas City the kind of stability every franchise chases, and at 68 he remains the oldest active head coach in the NFL. With three Super Bowl titles on his resume, Reid has built a standard that has kept the Chiefs in the leagues inner circle for years, even as the organization has leaned heavily on continuity and in-house development to sustain that run.
The lingering issue is what comes after him, especially after a recent ranking of the NFLs top 50 coaches, executives and strategists under 40 did not include anyone from the Chiefs staff. That absence does not erase what Kansas City has built, but it does highlight a question the team cannot dodge forever: where the next Reid-level answer will come from when the time finally arrives. [Read more 🡒]