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The Kansas City Chiefs are 5-5. They currently sit in third place in the AFC West after their Week 11 heartbreaking loss to the Denver Broncos. Fans aren’t used to this much losing in Kansas City. In fact, the Chiefs have only lost more than five games during the entire season once in the Patrick Mahomes era. Even then, Kansas City went on to win the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs have already established a dynasty. They made it to the final game in five of the last six seasons, and they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy three times during that stretch.
Every great dynasty in both sports and in world history falls at some point, though, and fans are wondering if that is the case with the Chiefs. Right now, the Chiefs are on the outside looking in on the AFC playoff picture. So, will Mahomes and company claw their way back to the top, will this be just a gap year in the dynasty, or will the Chiefs no longer be looked at as the NFL’s best team going forward?
For years, the Chiefs have been a seemingly unbeatable juggernaut. Mahomes has spent nearly the entirety of his career as the consensus best player in the NFL, and Travis Kelce established himself as arguably the best tight end of all time. Even head coach Andy Reid cemented his legend status with unique play calling and perennial winning ways.
Something has been a little different this year, though. The team dug themselves an early hole with back-to-back losses against the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. They’ve since lost two in a row again, with their recent losses coming to the Buffalo Bills and the Broncos. Travis Kelce is nearing retirement age. Although his performance against the Broncos was reminiscent of his prime, it is clear that he isn’t the player he once was. Chris Jones also hasn’t been up to his usual dominance this year.
Numerous stars have left the team over the years, such as Tyreek Hill and L’Jarius Sneed. The Chiefs have always found a way to win the close games over the years, but that hasn’t been the case this year.
Not only is the team’s nine-year AFC West title streak almost certainly going to end this year, but the team is genuinely at risk of missing the playoffs. For two months now, NFL fans have assumed that they’d turn things around, but that just hasn’t been the case, and time is ticking ever so quickly.
The Chiefs’ next game is against another one of the best teams in the NFL: the Indianapolis Colts. Matchups against the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans are to follow, neither of which are easy outs because the former has an elite offense and the latter has one of the best defenses this season.
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