Leadership and Coordinators
- Owner: Clark Hunt — Chairman and CEO Hunt leads a franchise responding to its first losing season in more than a decade.
- Decision Maker: Brett Veach — General Manager Veach built a younger defense, reworked the backfield and deepened the quarterback room while Patrick Mahomes recovers.
- Head Coach: Andy Reid Reid must restore dependable early-down production and reduce an excessive reliance on Mahomes creating outside structure.
- Offensive Coordinator: Eric Bieniemy Bieniemy returns after holding the job from 2018 through 2022. His familiarity helps, but the offense must evolve rather than recreate its past.
- Defensive Coordinator: Steve Spagnuolo Spagnuolo still gives Kansas City a flexible pressure system and an aggressive game-day problem solver. He now has to blend a heavily refreshed secondary and defensive front after the departure of Trent McDuffie.
- Special Teams Coordinator: Dave Toub Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Toub’s units remain central to Kansas City’s field-position plan.
2025 Season Recap
Kansas City’s 2025 season ended a remarkable run of annual certainty. The Chiefs finished 6–11, placed third in the AFC West and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
For a franchise that had reached seven consecutive AFC Championship Games before the season, the result was more than a routine down year. It was a sharp reminder that even a team built around Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and a championship-tested defense can be undone by thin margins, uneven offense and injuries at the worst possible time.
The record looked worse than the Chiefs’ overall point differential. Kansas City scored 362 points and allowed 328, yet repeatedly failed to turn competitive performances into wins. By the time a 16–13 loss to the Chargers eliminated the team from postseason contention, the Chiefs had lost seven one-score games, five by three points or fewer. That pattern reflected a team that could still control stretches of games but too often left points available through red-zone failures, stalled drives, turnovers or breakdowns in decisive moments.
Mahomes remained the offense’s center of gravity. He passed for 3,587 yards with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while adding 422 rushing yards and five scores. Those numbers were respectable, but the weekly burden on him was excessive.
The running game did not consistently keep the offense on schedule: Kareem Hunt led the club with 611 rushing yards, while Isiah Pacheco added 462.
When early downs produced little, Mahomes had to manufacture answers against defenses able to anticipate the pass. Protection and route timing also varied, leaving an offense known for flexibility playing too many snaps from obvious passing situations.
Travis Kelce remained productive with 76 receptions for 851 yards and five touchdowns. His feel for space continued to make him Mahomes’ most trustworthy problem solver, but the passing game did not generate enough easy offense around him. Kansas City had speed and individual flashes, yet it lacked the sustained rhythm that once made every coverage choice feel wrong. The result was an offense that could move the ball without reliably finishing drives—a particularly damaging flaw in games decided by one possession.
The defense kept the season from collapsing earlier. Chris Jones led the front with seven sacks, George Karlaftis added six and Spagnuolo continued to create pressure through alignment and disguise. Kansas City allowed fewer points than it scored and remained capable of making elite offenses uncomfortable.
Still, the unit could not erase every offensive mistake, and the accumulation of close losses exposed how narrow the team’s margin had become. In previous years, Mahomes and the defense routinely owned the final five minutes. In 2025, the decisive plays repeatedly went the other way.
The season’s defining moment arrived against Los Angeles in December. Kansas City built an early lead but settled for field goals instead of touchdowns, then surrendered 13 unanswered points. Mahomes was injured late while trying to lead a tying drive and was diagnosed with a torn left ACL. The 16–13 defeat formally ended the playoff pursuit and immediately shifted attention toward his rehabilitation. The Chiefs closed the year with further losses, including a 14–12 finale against Las Vegas, to finish 1–5 inside the division.
That injury shapes every 2026 conversation. Kansas City added Justin Fields and drafted Garrett Nussmeier, giving Reid viable alternatives if Mahomes is not ready or needs a measured return. Neither changes the long-term truth: the Chiefs’ championship ceiling still belongs to Mahomes. The supporting cast must be capable of carrying more of the weekly load, especially early in the season, rather than treating his recovery as the only solution.
The 2025 campaign did not erase the foundation of the league’s defining modern contender. Reid, Mahomes, Kelce, Jones and Spagnuolo remain, and the defense received an influx of young talent.
But the season exposed real transition points at running back, receiver, cornerback and offensive tackle. Kansas City enters 2026 with urgency, not inevitability. Its response will show whether 6–11 was an injury-amplified interruption or the beginning of a more difficult roster reset.
2025 AFC West Standing
- 1. Denver Broncos — 14–3 (5–1 division) — Lost CC PF: 401 · PA: 311
- 2. Los Angeles Chargers — 11–6 (5–1 division) — Lost WC PF: 368 · PA: 340
- 3. Kansas City Chiefs — 6–11 (1–5 division) — Missed Playoffs PF: 362 · PA: 328
- 4. Las Vegas Raiders — 3–14 (1–5 division) — Missed Playoffs PF: 241 · PA: 432
Kansas City’s positive point differential contrasted with its losing record, but their 1–5 division mark has ended its control of the AFC West.
Notable 2026 Player Additions
- QB Justin Fields (trade, Jets) Fields provides starting experience and designed-run ability if Mahomes is unavailable, plus a change-of-pace package after his return.
- RB Kenneth Walker III Walker brings burst to a backfield that lacked explosive rushing production. Availability and avoiding negative runs will determine his impact.
- DT Khyiris Tonga Tonga adds early-down mass and run-defense experience beside a front that is most dangerous when Jones can attack rather than absorb blocks.
- S Alohi Gilman Gilman offers communication and lineup flexibility to a secondary undergoing substantial change.
- CB L’Jarius Sneed Sneed restores a physical cover defender who understands Spagnuolo’s demands and can take difficult assignments.
- CB Kristian Fulton Fulton supplies another experienced outside option behind a changing cornerback group.
Notable 2026 Player Losses
- CB Trent McDuffie (trade, Rams) Replacing Kansas City’s most versatile cover player will require a group effort.
- RB Isiah Pacheco Pacheco’s violent style established the offense’s tempo. Walker and Emmett Johnson now lead a redesigned backfield.
- RB Kareem Hunt The 2025 rushing leader’s departure removes trusted goal-line experience.
- WR Marquise Brown Brown’s departure shifts more responsibility to Worthy, Rice, Royals and Allen.
- S Bryan Cook Cook provided starting experience and familiarity with the defensive calls. Gilman and the club’s young safeties must replace that steadiness.
- LB Leo Chenal Chenal’s power and downhill style were useful against the run and in pressure packages. Kansas City will need Jeffrey Bassa, Cooper McDonald and the remaining linebackers to absorb his specialized work.
2026 Draft Class
- Round 1, Pick 6 — CB Mansoor Delane, LSU A polished cover corner with the awareness to play early and help replace McDuffie.
- Round 1, Pick 29 — DL Peter Woods, Clemson Woods brings power, movement and multi-position versatility to Spagnuolo’s front.
- Round 2, Pick 40 — EDGE R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma An explosive, high-effort rusher who joins Karlaftis in a young rotation.
- Round 4, Pick 109 — DB Jadon Canady, Oregon A quick slot defender whose immediate route to snaps includes special teams.
- Round 5, Pick 161 — RB Emmett Johnson, Nebraska Johnson is a patient runner and capable receiver who offers a useful contrast to Walker’s explosive style. His early value could come through third-down reliability and ball security.
- Round 5, Pick 176 — WR Cyrus Allen, Cincinnati Allen adds speed, return experience and another vertical option.
- Round 7, Pick 249 — QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU An experienced passer who can develop his footwork and decision-making behind Mahomes and Fields.
2026 Spotlight Watch
- Hot Seat — Eric Bieniemy The returning coordinator inherits an offense that lost its rhythm and now may have to operate without a fully available Mahomes at the outset. Bieniemy must improve the run-pass balance, create easier completions and help Reid restore Kansas City’s situational sharpness.
- Breakout Watch — Jalen Royals Royals enters his second season in a receiver room with opportunity behind Rice and Worthy. His strength through contact and ability to win beyond the first break could turn flashes into a substantial weekly role.
- Bust Watch — Kenneth Walker III Walker’s explosiveness is obvious, but his Chiefs fit depends on availability, down-to-down consistency and trust in passing situations. If he remains a volatile runner or cannot stay on the field, Kansas City could again lack the stable rushing complement its offense needs.
- Team Superstar — Patrick Mahomes The torn ACL makes his availability the defining issue of the season, but it does not change his place at the center of the franchise. Kansas City’s ceiling rises from competitive to championship-caliber only when Mahomes is healthy enough to play with his normal creativity and movement.
Prediction
We have the Chiefs returning to the playoffs in 2026 with an 11-6 record. But the Chief’s were unable to prevent the Denver Broncos from repeating as the AFC West champions. I’m sure KC will still be the team that every team in the West, home-field or not, fears to face in the playoffs.
Below is the complete 2026 regular season projections.
Sources
- NFL: Final 2025 division standings
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2025 team statistics
- Kansas City Chiefs: Playoff elimination and Patrick Mahomes injury
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2026 coaching staff
- Kansas City Chiefs: Eric Bieniemy named offensive coordinator
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2026 offseason roster moves
- Kansas City Chiefs: L’Jarius Sneed returns
- Kansas City Chiefs: Initial 2026 53-man roster
- Kansas City Chiefs: 2026 draft selections
- Kansas City Chiefs: Mansoor Delane player biography
- Kansas City Chiefs: Clark Hunt profile
- Kansas City Chiefs: Brett Veach profile
