The first weekend of the NFL playoffs didn’t just deliver drama - it delivered chaos. Three games, three lead changes in the final two minutes, and three touchdowns in the last 105 seconds that flipped the outcome. Wild Card Weekend lived up to its name.
But amid all that action, one team kept coming up - even though they weren’t playing.
The Kansas City Chiefs.
No Mahomes magic. No Arrowhead crowd.
No playoff fireworks. Just silence.
And that silence has been deafening across the league.
Because when the Chiefs aren’t in the postseason - after being the defining force in the AFC for the better part of the last half-decade - it’s not just a Kansas City story. It’s a league-wide shift.
This is a team that’s hoisted three Lombardi Trophies in the last five years, and even in a small market, they’ve become a massive brand. So when that kind of dynasty stumbles, the ripple effects are felt everywhere.
Kansas City finished 6-11 this season. They were eliminated before the playoff picture even started to take shape. And now, with the AFC wide open, the question isn’t just "who’s next?" - it’s "who’s ready?"
Because for the first time in a long time, the road to the Super Bowl doesn’t go through Kansas City. And that’s not just a storyline - that’s an opportunity. A rare one.
Let’s be real: for the teams still standing in the AFC, this is the best shot they’ve had in years. Since Mahomes took over in 2018, only one AFC team has outlasted the Chiefs in the postseason - the 2020 Bengals, who made it to the Super Bowl but couldn’t finish the job.
Since then? Cincinnati’s been to the playoffs just once in the last three seasons.
They’ve gone 24-27 over that span. That window slammed shut fast.
And that’s why the Chiefs - even in their absence - are still part of the playoff conversation. They’ve left a power vacuum, and someone’s going to fill it. But just as importantly, someone’s going to miss their moment.
Which brings us to Josh Allen.
Allen’s had a legitimate reason for not making a Super Bowl appearance. That reason wore No. 15 in red and gold.
The Chiefs bounced the Bills from the playoffs in four of the last five years. And Allen wasn’t the problem - he accounted for 11 total touchdowns across those four games.
In one of them, he threw for 329 yards and four scores. But Mahomes had 13 seconds and a coin toss.
We all remember how that ended.
But this year? No Mahomes.
No Chiefs. No excuses.
The AFC playoff field isn’t just wide open - it’s statistically weaker than it’s been in years. According to DVOA - a metric that evaluates team efficiency across the board - there isn’t a single dominant team in the mix. Not one.
That’s the kind of landscape where a quarterback like Allen, in his eighth season and approaching 30, has to deliver. His defense might be banged up heading into this weekend’s matchup in Denver, but he’s got something Mahomes didn’t have this year: a reliable run game.
The pieces are there. The path is clear.
The only thing missing is the breakthrough.
If Allen doesn’t get it done now, when will he?
And speaking of Denver - the team standing in Allen’s way this weekend - they’re not exactly juggernauts. Bo Nix has had a rocky rookie season.
The Broncos, despite earning the No. 1 seed, rank near the bottom historically among top seeds in terms of DVOA. They’ve been good, not great.
Still, they’ve earned the right to host a playoff game for the first time in a decade. And for all the questions around their legitimacy, the opportunity is real.
They beat the Chiefs twice this year. Sure, one of those wins came against Kansas City’s third-string quarterback, Chris Oladokun, making his first career start.
But that’s not the point.
The point is, the Chiefs team that dominated the AFC for seven seasons never showed up this year. And they won’t be showing up now.
This postseason isn’t about dethroning the Chiefs. That throne is vacant.
It’s about who steps up and claims it.
And as the playoffs roll on, the Chiefs - and Mahomes - will be watching from home, just like the rest of us. Their absence is the story behind every game, every drive, every throw.
Because when a dynasty takes a step back, the rest of the league has to decide whether to step forward - or miss the moment entirely.