play0:29Derwin James Jr. ends Chiefs’ playoff hopes with an INTGardner Minshew is picked off by Derwin James Jr. to seal the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs.
Derwin James Jr. ends Chiefs’ playoff hopes with an INTGardner Minshew is picked off by Derwin James Jr. to seal the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Inside Arrowhead Stadium, one area where Kansas City Chiefs fans can get as close as possible to players is a small walkway between the tunnel to the field and the team’s locker room. Over the past few years, that walkway has been a place for celebrations, for coronations.
In two of the past three Januarys, the walkway was the place where the Chiefs had impromptu parades. Players high-fiving fans. Players smiling when they heard a chorus of cheers. Coach Andy Reid waving to the adoring crowd. As the NFL’s most recent dynasty, those parades included the Chiefs holding the Lamar Hunt Trophy, the trophy to honor the legacy of the man who founded the franchise, the same trophy given each year to the AFC champion.
For weeks, even once it became clear his players were consistent in how inconsistent they were from game to game, Reid tried to provide a stabilizing voice in the Chiefs’ locker room and during news conferences.
“We’re really close,” Reid said two weeks ago. “We just have to take care of business. Whatever I say here, it’s what you do. That’s where you’re at and you have got to do it and fix the issue because we’re very close.”
“OK,” said Jones, who nodded for a few seconds. “Success is rented every year. Sometimes it don’t go the way you planned for it to go.”
After three straight trips to the Super Bowl, the Chiefs, led by Reid and general manager Brett Veach, didn’t make major changes to the roster, hoping continuity would once again be a deciding factor in games.
Immediately after the snap, linebacker Drue Tranquill yelled at Jones, leading to an argument between them.
The scene was the opposite of what the Chiefs experienced a year ago, when they seemed to always make the game-winning play — or capitalize on the opponent’s mistake in the final minutes — to finish with a franchise-record 15-2 record. Last year, the Chiefs won 11 one-score games, the most in a single campaign in league history. But that night in São Paulo was the start of the trend of close games going in the wrong direction for the Chiefs.
One of the major reasons the Chiefs were unable to reach the postseason this year is largely because they couldn’t win one-score games. The Chiefs’ 1-7 record in one-score games this season, including Sunday’s, ranks last in the league.
“It sucks losing; It’s new to me,” cornerback Jaylen Watson said. “We’re just not finishing. It’s a play or two — or three. We’re just not finishing. It’s frustrating.”
The Eagles capitalized on the game’s lone turnover. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed a 28-yard pass to receiver DeVonta Smith to beat the Chiefs’ Cover 0 blitz. That highlight set up Hurts’ 1-yard touchdown via the tush push.
A few weeks later, Jones had his most embarrassing moment of the season. With 30 seconds left and the Jacksonville Jaguars at the 1-yard line trailing by four, quarterback Trevor Lawrence stumbled under center but was able to get up and scamper across the goal line for the winning score. Jones, who led the Chiefs’ defensive line with 48 snaps, watched the sequence from the middle of the field and didn’t make a considerable effort to pursue and tackle Lawrence.
Derwin James Jr. ends Chiefs’ playoff hopes with an INT
Gardner Minshew is picked off by Derwin James Jr. to seal the Chargers’ win over the Chiefs.
ONE OF THE most disappointing aspects of the season was that the Chiefs offense never reached its potential to become one of the league’s potent units — a goal many in the organization felt was possible.
Despite the offense struggling at times, the Chiefs split their first six games without Rice. Once Rice returned, the offense had its most successful stretch in October, leading the Chiefs to be the outright Super Bowl favorites, according to ESPN Analytics, even though Simmons was in the midst of a 22-day absence from the team, missing four games for what the team called a “family situation.”
“I feel like there are just more eyes going on somebody else,” Worthy said in late October. “Everybody in this offense can make plays. Nobody is selfish. Everybody is willing to do the dirty work, and everybody is willing to do their best and what’s best for the team.”
Perhaps the biggest juxtaposition for the Chiefs was Reid’s decisions on fourth down and his playcalling. Earlier this month, the Chiefs led the league in fourth-down success rate, converting 80.8% of their 26 attempts. But against the Cowboys, Reid elected to punt the ball in the third quarter when the Chiefs faced a fourth-and-4 snap on their opponent’s 44-yard line. The strategy failed, as the Cowboys used the possession to extend their lead.
In the loss to the Eagles, the Chiefs’ first possession in the third quarter ended on a perplexing playcall. On fourth-and-1, with the game tied, Reid’s play required center Creed Humphrey to pull on a trap for Hunt. The Eagles’ defensive line crushed the Chiefs’ offensive line, and the snap resulted in a one-yard loss. The Eagles used the short field to take a three-point lead on kicker Jake Elliott’s 51-yard field goal.
“I take full responsibility for that,” Reid said after the game. “I thought we could get it. It’s important that you take advantage of opportunities. In hindsight, it was wrong. I messed that one up.”
“He popped right underneath where I was throwing the ball. It was a great call by them and a great play by [Lloyd]. I’ve got to find a way to tackle him or slow him down after he gets the interception.”
“We’ve got to do better when you get opportunities in the red zone or [with favorable] field position,” Reid said Sunday. “You’ve got to take advantage of that.”
One of the most uncertain factors of the Chiefs’ offseason is Kelce’s future. As a 13-year veteran, Kelce is in the final year of his contract. He shared last month that he plans to decide on whether to return to the Chiefs by early March, before NFL free agency begins.
“You put in all this f—ing work and hope that it pays off,” Kelce, 36, said Wednesday during the “New Heights” podcast he co-hosts with his brother Jason Kelce. “And right now, it’s just for whatever f—ing reason, man, it’s little things. I feel like I’ve always had the answers in years past. And this year, I just can’t find them.
“I keep thinking if I show up to work and I put in the work and I fix the issues through my practice habits and through perfecting the game plan and my fundamentals and what I’m being taught, and go out there and try and play my ass off for my guys next to me, it’s all going to come together like it has in years past. And this year it is just not, man.”
If Kelce retires, one NFL scout suggested that the Chiefs should try to add a traditional, boundary receiver, a player similar to George Pickens — who is set to become a free agent after this season — to help beat man-to-man coverage.
The Chiefs’ front office will also have to prioritize improving the team’s pass rush. Too often this season, the lone lineman who could generate consistent pressure was Jones, who at age 31 is the team’s second-oldest lineman. An AFC executive said the Chiefs’ inability to get consistent pressure and sacks with four lineman — the collective D-line has generated just 16.5 sacks — has been the defense’s biggest weakness.
In another loss, against the Broncos, the defense couldn’t get off the field on a third-and-15 snap just before the two-minute warning, as quarterback Bo Nix was able to complete a pass to receiver Courtland Sutton for a 20-yard gain. The Broncos ended the game with a 35-yard, game-winning field goal from kicker Wil Lutz as time expired.
“I think we learned a lot this year,” he said. “We can be mad at ourselves, and we can ask God why. But at times, it’s a lesson that you’re being taught along the journey. We’d be selfish to ask God why. Why right now? Why this?
Throughout the season, the Chiefs’ collective energy, concentration and focus waned at times, usually in critical moments. In losses, the Chiefs often committed more penalties than their opponents, they dropped the ball (26 total for second-most in the league) or made a mental, unforced error. One executive for an AFC team suggested such issues were the cumulative effect of the energy the Chiefs have expended in the previous seven years. Even in the last four seasons, the Chiefs played 81 games, the most of any team in the league.
Wide receiver Rashee Rice began the year serving a six-game suspension for his role in a 2024 multicar crash that left multiple people injured. Then just three plays into the season, the Chiefs had to operate without Xavier Worthy, their fastest receiver. Worthy suffered a right shoulder injury while running a crossing route to gain separation against the Chargers’ man-to-man coverage. He collided with Kelce, who was running a crossing route in the opposite direction. The first two weeks also featured Kelce having a heated sideline exchange with Reid. During the exchange in a win over the New York Giants, Reid bumped Kelce with his left shoulder.
The Chiefs also couldn’t run the ball effectively from the shotgun, whether the play featured an RPO or not. Although running back Kareem Hunt was excellent in short-yardage situations, the Chiefs have failed to create explosive gains on running plays at a historic rate. Entering Sunday’s game, Chiefs had the lowest explosive rush rate — rushing plays of 20 yards or more — on running back carries among all seasons since 2000 (2.6%). Against the Chargers, the trio of Hunt, Isiah Pacheco and rookie Brashard Smith combined to produce just 34 rushing yards on 19 attempts.
Next month, no such moment will occur at Arrowhead.
The most successful era of the franchise ended Sunday with a 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that eliminated the Chiefs from postseason, a loss that ended several historical streaks — 10 consecutive 10-win seasons (third-longest streak in NFL history), a 10-year streak of making the playoffs (second-longest streak in league history) and seven consecutive conference championship appearances (second-longest streak in league history).