Is Chiefs Kingdom crumbling after losing start?

NFL 2025 season

Dates: 4 September 2025 – 8 February 2026

Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Patrick Mahomes, both have unknown backgrounds.

The Chiefs’ first two games of the new year have been lost after being denied a three-game Super Bowl series.

Before they drafted Mahomes and their three Super Bowl victories under coach Andy Reid, the team has had its first 0-2 start since 2014.

Since only 10.1% of teams with 0-2 starts have advanced to the post-season since the NFL merger in 1970, there are now significant questions about Kansas City’s play-off chances.

Mahomes has accepted the challenge, stating that success is determined by how you handle it. Who wants to be challenged, and how we can respond and truly recover from it, is what I’m looking forward to over the next few weeks.

When the winning margin is eight or fewer, Kansas City has won 17 straight games in a row.

But they have lost that ability, falling to the Los Angeles Chargers, their divisional rival, 27-21 in week one and 20-17 in the Philadelphia Eagles’ rematch last Sunday.

Chris Jones has always been a great defensive tackle, but he went for a sack on Justin Herbert, the quarterback for Charlotte, when he just had to contain him, according to Ed Easton Jr., senior writer for USA Today’s Chiefs Wire. A situation like that leaves you feeling lost.

Then, as confident as he can be, Travis Kelce appears. The ball deflects off his hand and is intercepted [practically] by him [against the Eagles]. Because if he catches that, it’s a touchdown, and we’re probably not having this conversation, it alters the entire tone of the game.

They simply haven’t done it in these first two games when it comes down to those critical moments where big plays are required.

Kansas City’s slow start was also caused by poor discipline and a lack of key personnel.

On the Chiefs’ first drive of the season, Kristian Fulton and Mike Danna both received six-game suspensions, and Rashee Rice is receiving a six-game suspension.

Easton Jr. noted that “the penalties have been racking up, a lot of them on right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who has been a disappointment for the most part since signing in 2023.”

Left tackle, for a left-handed quarterback, is unquestionably the most crucial position in defense because it protects the quarterback’s blind side, or right tackle, for a left-handed quarterback.

The Chiefs fixed that by selecting Josh Simmons with their first-round draft pick and bringing in Jaylon Moore from San Francisco after Mahomes was sacked six times in the Super Bowl, which was a career high.

According to Easton, “they have made adjustments on the offensive line, which was the biggest adjustment needed,” and Josh Simmons has been playing such a rookie-like way.

“I think it comes down to how much patience Andy Reid has at right tackle, and do they go with Jaylon Moore [instead of Taylor]”?

Mahomes is currently the Chiefs’ rushing leader, making him their third-leading rusher of the year last year.

After Cam Newton, the 30-year-old quarterback has been the second quarterback to record double the rushing yards of any other teammate in each of their first two games since 1950, increasing his risk of injury.

Worthy made a week-long recovery from practice so that he could play in the New York Giants’ prime-time game on Sunday, which is a 0-2 team that almost defeated the Dallas Cowboys in a overtime thriller last Sunday.

Kansas City will play catch-up in the AFC West after Baltimore and Detroit will follow in week six.

The Chargers went two games ahead of them after defeating the Raiders in Las Vegas last week, so the Chiefs are going into this game knowing that each is a must-win, Easton said.

“But the Chiefs rise to the occasion now that everyone is beginning to doubt them. When they were a wildcard team in the 2023 season, they endured hardship and won every game to advance to the Super Bowl.

Patrick Mahomes enjoys these situations because they “must play the underdog” role if they want to escape this 0-2, but they must.”

The Chiefs can still advance to the play-offs with enough victories to earn a wildcard spot if they lose their tenth straight division title, but the AFC West is now “one of the NFL’s most competitive divisions.”

“There’s that parity in the NFL,” added Schecter. AFC teams have had to build a roster to defeat the Chiefs, and if you place last, you will be chosen [in the draft].

“But I believe you always have a chance when you have Andy Reid, one of the most outstanding head coaches in NFL history, and Patrick Mahomes as the head coach.”