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The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a heartbreaking loss on Monday Night Football. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence fell down, got back up, and scampered in for the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play. That improbable play gave the Chiefs their third loss on the season, moving them to 2-3.
The AFC is completely wide open after the first five weeks of the 2025 season. Kansas City has struggled, but they are very much alive in the playoff hunt.
That said, the Chiefs need to play with more urgency and eliminate mistakes if they want to turn the season around.
Monday’s loss offered a few examples for why the Chiefs have been underperforming through Week 5.
So how did the Chiefs manage to lose this game? And how much doubt does it cast on the rest of their season?
Below we will explore who is most to blame for the Chiefs’ last-second loss against the Jaguars on Monday Night Football.
There was plenty of hype this offseason about Kansas City’s offense.
The Chiefs talked a big game about unleashing the deep passing game with Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy. But weirdly, it has been Tyquan Thornton who has been doing his best Tyreek Hill impression.
On paper, the plan is actually working. Mahomes has already completed 14 passes when targeting 20+ yards downfield this season. That is a massive improvement from 2024, when Mahomes only had 41 such completions during the entire regular season.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t seemed to move the needle much in terms of wins and losses.
The Chiefs are still great at distributing the ball to multiple playmakers. But perhaps their biggest problem is that those playmakers simply aren’t as effective as they used to be.
Travis Kelce is still good, but not an elite tight end at this stage of his career. Worthy, Brown, and Thornton are solid wide receivers, but none can threaten opposing defenses like a true WR1 would.
And the running game is perhaps the most worrying situation of all.
Mahomes led the Chiefs in rushing with six carries for 60 yards and a touchdown in Week 5.
Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco combined for 14 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Hunt did the lion’s share of the work, with Pacheco still looking stuck in the mud.
Ultimately, Kansas City’s offense feels like it is missing one more elite playmaker who could open up the entire offense.
Chiefs fans have to be hopeful that the return of Rashee Rice will do just that.
Kansas City repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties.
The Chiefs finished the game with 13 penalties for 109 yards, compared to just four penalties for 25 yards against the Jaguars. This unquestionably had a huge impact on the game, especially during a few key drives.
Look no further than Jacksonville’s final drive of the game. Chiefs...
