After a Dynasty Run, the Chiefs Are Watching From Home-And That Might Be the Wake-Up Call They Needed
For the first time in over a decade, the Kansas City Chiefs are on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFL postseason. Their 2025 campaign ended with something the franchise hadn’t experienced in 13 years: a losing record. And with that, their remarkable streak of ten consecutive playoff appearances-and seven straight AFC Championship Games-came to a screeching halt.
Let’s not gloss over what this team accomplished. Five Super Bowl appearances in six years.
Three Lombardi Trophies. A run of dominance that etched Kansas City into the upper tier of NFL dynasties.
But as with all dynasties, the end eventually comes. What stings most for the Chiefs and their fans is the timing.
Because this year’s playoff field? It’s wide open.
Not just “any given Sunday” open. We’re talking “no clear favorite in sight” open-especially in the AFC.
Look around the bracket. Josh Allen, arguably the biggest name among the remaining quarterbacks, needed every ounce of grit to edge past the Jaguars in the Wild Card round.
The Rams, a trendy Super Bowl pick, barely got by an 8-9 Panthers team. And somehow, the Seahawks-led by Sam Darnold-are currently the betting favorites to win it all.
Yes, those Seahawks.
The AFC’s top seeds, Denver and New England, are both helmed by second-year quarterbacks who came into the playoffs without a single postseason win between them. Drake Maye and the Patriots got their first taste of playoff victory against the Chargers, but it wasn’t exactly a showcase of offensive firepower. Denver, despite a 14-3 regular season record, ended the year with a 14-point loss to Jacksonville and then beat the Chiefs and Chargers in games that felt more like preseason warmups than playoff tune-ups.
Even the defending champion Eagles couldn’t escape the chaos. Their 11-6 record masked some real inconsistency, and it caught up to them in a 23-19 loss to the 49ers.
That whole “new dynasty” talk after beating Kansas City in last year’s Super Bowl? It’s on hold.
And that’s what makes the Chiefs’ absence from this postseason so frustrating. This wasn’t a year where the league passed them by with a wave of dominant new contenders.
This was a year tailor-made for a veteran team with playoff experience, a franchise quarterback, and a championship pedigree to make another run. But Kansas City wasn’t that team-not this time.
Let’s be clear: the Chiefs didn’t miss the playoffs because the rest of the NFL suddenly got better. They missed it because they got worse. And that’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’re watching teams you would’ve expected to beat-maybe even comfortably-move on to the Divisional Round.
But this could also be the moment that resets the franchise in the right way.
There’s no need for a full teardown in Kansas City. You don’t rebuild when you have Patrick Mahomes in his prime.
You reload. You retool.
You self-assess with ruthless honesty and make the kind of bold, smart decisions that have defined this front office in the past.
That starts with understanding what went wrong this season. Whether it’s roster construction, coaching adjustments, or just a failure to evolve offensively, the Chiefs need to identify the root causes of their drop-off.
And they need to do it fast. Because the opportunity is still there.
This year’s playoff picture proves it-there’s no juggernaut blocking the path. A healthy, well-constructed Chiefs team led by Mahomes would’ve been right there in the mix. Instead, they’re picking ninth in the draft and watching from home.
But if Brett Veach and Andy Reid can stabilize this roster and reinforce the foundation around their franchise quarterback, there’s no reason Kansas City can’t bounce right back into contender status in 2026. The window isn’t closed-it just got stuck for a season.
And if this year’s missed opportunity lights a fire under the organization, the rest of the league might want to brace itself. Because a motivated Mahomes and a recalibrated Chiefs squad? That’s still a nightmare matchup for anyone in the NFL.