Kansas City Chiefs Dynasty Teetering And Club Is Merely Trying To Get Above .500 And Make Playoffs

This is not an obituary for the 2025 Kansas City Chiefs. It's too early for that because no one expects Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid to throw their arms up in surrender and go quietly into the night. 

But their dynasty?

DENVER, COLORADO - NOVEMBER 16: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs hugs Bo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos after the game at Empower Field At Mile High on November 16, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Dynasty Is All But A Memory

The dynasty built on five Super Bowl appearances since the dawn of 2020 is teetering. And Sunday was a strongly worded announcement from the Denver Broncos that times now more closely resemble the years when the Broncos won five consecutive AFC West division titles from 2011-15, than the last nine years when Kansas City won the division.

"I mean, obviously it's going to be tough to get back into the division race," Mahomes admitted after a 22-19 loss. "But at the end of the day, all of the goal is to get into the playoffs and try to make a run at it and all you can do is focus on next week. We got to learn from this one as much as possible."

We've been learning about these Chiefs since they opened the season with a loss to the division rival Los Angeles Chargers.

And what we've learned is the Chiefs are no longer dominant. They're no longer more talented, or smarter or more clutch than everyone else. 

Marvin Mims Jr. #19 of the Denver Broncos reacts after a punt return against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first quarter at Empower Field At Mile High on November 16, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Chiefs No Longer The Best

They are no longer the best team in the NFL. We learned that last season when the Eagles blew them out in Super Bowl LIX.

They're not the best team in the AFC. We understand that now as they sit with a 5-5 record and the ninth spot in the conference standings that rewards only seven teams with a postseason berth.

The Chiefs are not even the best team in their division. The Chiefs sit in third place in the AFC West and they're 1-2 in divisional games with losses to the Chargers and now the Broncos. 

The Chiefs are reeling, which is hard to say because they just came off a bye and the best they could do was merely stay close against a Denver club that now has almost twice as many wins as them.

DENVER, COLORADO - NOVEMBER 16: Matt Araiza #14 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on during the first half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on November 16, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

Mahomes: This Is New Adversity 

So these are tough times, as Mahomes admitted.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not always been just championships," he said. "We've dealt with adversity and, guys have learned and gotten better from it. I mean, obviously, this is something that we haven't dealt with so early in the season. But at the same time, I mean, I know what the guys that I know, the guys in that locker room, how they're going to respond."  

Again, this is not an obituary. But the Chiefs are in trouble and they know it.

This looks like a passing of the proverbial torch that we're witnessing. 

Mahomes has never not played in the AFC Championship Game during his career. But he's got his hands full keeping this Kansas City club at .500. The Chiefs have lost two consecutive games and that's the second time this season they've found themselves stringing together back-to-back losses.

All five of Kansas City's losses have come in one-score games. That suggests they're close. 

Chiefs Failing At Closing Games

But just as last year's double-digit number of wins in one-score games suggested the Chiefs know how to perform in big moments, this year's set of one-score losses suggest now they don't.

That mantle, like the division lead, has perhaps passed to the Broncos who have authored five fourth-quarter comeback wins this season – including Sunday.

This is a surprise. But how else to put it when a team with perhaps the best big-moment quarterback in the league fails in the big moments? 

Mahomes has 30 career game-winning drives.  And so it was understandable to expect, or at least hold out the strong possibility, that when this game was tied 19-19 with 4:05 to play, it would be Mahomes and his teammates to pull out a victory. 

Broncos AFC West Leaders

Nope.

The Chiefs offense went three-and-out.

"We've got to make sure we don't go three-and-out on those last couple of series," Reid said.  

And the Chiefs never got the ball back as Bo Nix and his teammates did to the Chiefs what the Chiefs have done to the rest of the NFL for half a decade: Make plays late. And win big games.

But, of course, that was during their dynasty days.