While the Kansas City Chiefs have had a lot of success in recent years, but it hasn’t always been rainbows and smiles for the franchise.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been a fun team to watch over the past three years. Since Andy Reid has come to town, the team has made it to two Super Bowls and won one in the 2019 season. They’ve won four AFC West division titles and haven’t had a losing season since 2012.
Even though Chiefs fans have enjoyed how things are going recently, it’s not difficult to think back to when the team was a joke and one of the worst in the entire league.
The KC Chiefs used to be the type of team that would kick butt one season, and then once the media was all about them “going the distance” the following year, they’d suck, not having a winning record or making it to the playoffs. They’d then slump back into not being relevant, and then the cycle would repeat itself.
Chiefs fans, despite the terrible seasons, still show up to Arrowhead and continue to make it one of the loudest stadiums in the entire NFL (and in sports), which is why it’s so damn fun to be a sports lover in this city.
So what have been the ten worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history? Let’s take a look.
Next: Number 10
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 10, 1963 (5-7-2)
From 1960 to 1962, the Chiefs were known as the Dallas Texans, and had experienced a lot of success during that time. In 1962, the Texans won the AFL Championship against the Houston Oilers, and the hope was that the hype would remain with the organization, even after relocating to Kansas City.
They won the AFL Championship the year prior, but couldn’t follow up with a nice season afterwards.
Instead, the Chiefs, in their first year in the AFL, floundered. Their AFL Championship victory tour didn’t go as planned in the 1963 season, with the team only winning five games, losing seven, and tying (back when that was a common occurrence in football) two games.
The team was led by Hank Stram then, and it was a rare weak season for the franchise under head coach Stram, who is easily the team’s best coach in team history.
The Chiefs started the season out with a bang, putting the smackdown on the Broncos in their first game (59-7), but then went on to tie and lose their next two games. The team lost every game from week five until week ten, and by then it was too late to climb back into contention.
While the 5-7-2 record doesn’t look all that bad, this was more of a disappointing season for the team more than a “bad” season. They won the AFL Championship the year prior, but couldn’t follow up with a nice season afterwards.
Next: Number 9
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 9, 2009 (4-12)
The 2009 season for the Kansas City Chiefs was a terrible one, but it’s ranked ninth because there wasn’t a lot of anticipation for the team to do well heading into the year. They went 2-14 the season prior (we’ll get to that later on) and were in “rebuilding mode”.
As a result of the poor 2008 season, the Chiefs hired Scott Pioli as their general manager, hired Todd Haley to lead the charge as their head coach, and acquired Matt Cassel to be their quarterback of the future. While you’re all probably laughing (or crying) reading those names, the franchise was set on rebuilding and trying to win again.
This is a city that loves its sports, so for a football game to get blacked out says a lot about where fans’ heads were at during that ’09 season.
Well, the 2009 season did indeed not start off to Chiefs fans’ liking. They went 0-5 to start the year and recorded their first victory against the Washington Redskins in week six, but would only win three more games for the rest of the season.
That season was so bad that one of the games was blacked out in Kansas City by CBS (it was against Cleveland, but still… That’s rather embarrassing). This is a city that loves its sports, so for a football game to get blacked out says a lot about where fans’ heads were at during that ’09 season.
This was also the year in which the Chiefs wore those hideous throwback Texans uniforms, which didn’t make the games anymore enjoyable to watch in the least bit.
Despite only winning four games, the Chiefs did double their win total from the season before, which I guess was a small victory for a team trying to rebuild.
Oh also, the Chiefs had no players make it to the Pro Bowl in 2009, which is a pretty difficult thing to happen these days. Usually, at least ONE player makes it from each team.
Despite only winning four games, the Chiefs did double their win total from the season before, which I guess was a small victory for a team trying to rebuild.
Also, their poor performance in the 2009 season landed them the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and with that pick, they selected Eric Berry. Berry has become one a huge fan favorite in Kansas City and is on the cusp of receiving a mega deal for a starting safety.
So while 2009 was a bad season for the Chiefs, some good came out of it, which can’t be said about many other seasons on this list.
Next: Number 8
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 8, 1988 (4-11-1)
The 1988 season was not a great one in Kansas City and a lot of the issues were because of the quarterback carousel taking place between Bill Kenney and Steve DeBerg.
Despite both of these guys actually putting up decent numbers during their Chiefs tenures, neither had much luck with leading the team to success in 1988. Kansas City started the year off 1-8-1 and only ended up winning three more games to finish off the year.
Something that made me put this game near the bottom of “Worst Seasons” is because while the Chiefs were obviously not a very good team in 1988, they were only blown out by opponents twice. The rest of the games were pretty fair fights, but the Chiefs just couldn’t finish games off.
Another reason this was lower on the list was that the 1987 season went almost exactly the same way (4-11 record). There weren’t many expectations heading into the 1988 season, as the Chiefs were in rebuilding mode.
While the Chiefs were obviously not a very good team in 1988, they were only blown out by opponents twice.
The Chiefs had three Pro Bowl players in 1988: Dino Hackett, Albert Lewis, and Deron Cherry, all defensive players. This wasn’t enough to keep Jim Schaaf as general manager of the team or Frank Gransz as the head coach.
A benefit to this losing season was that the Chiefs ended up with a lot of gems for the 1989 season. For one, they landed the fourth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft and selected Derrick Thomas, a Hall of Fame linebacker.
The Chiefs also hired Marty Schottenheimer on as their head coach, a position that he kept for nearly a decade.
So, yes, the 1988 season was brutal for the Kansas City Chiefs, but some good definitely came out of it.
Next: Number 7
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 7, 1978 (4-12)
Following an absolute atrocious season in 1977, the 1978 Kansas City Chiefs season was one that didn’t hold a lot of anticipation for the fans. The team went 2-12 the year prior, and with the NFL expanding the season to 16 games in ’78, Chiefs fans were almost ready for the season to be over with before it even began.
The organization hired Marv Levy to be their head coach. Levy had spent time in the Canadian Football League and also installed a new type of offense in Kansas City.
Betsided
With the Chiefs having a dreadful defense the season prior, Levy wanted to run the ball as much as humanly possible. While that helped them win their first game of the season, the Chiefs then went on to lose their next six games, putting them at 1-6 on the season.
Kansas City only won three more games for the rest of the season and ended up 4-12 and in last in the AFC West. It was not a good season for Chiefs fans, but it wasn’t shocking.
Mike Livingston was the starting quarterback (and he was a career backup before then) and the starting running back was Arnold Morgado. Who? Exactly.
The Chiefs did have some great talent on defense in Art Still and Gary Spani, though neither made the Pro Bowl (no one on the team did).
Despite the 1978 season being pretty terrible, the Chiefs had hit a rough patch around that time and weren’t victorious for awhile.
Next: Number 7
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 6, 2007 (4-12)
After a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance in 2006, one would have thought that 2007 would be another successful season for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Instead, however, the team traded Trent Green to the Miami Dolphins in favor of Brodie Croyle starting at quarterback (whyyyyy?) because head coach Herm Edwards wanted the team to have a youth renovation.
The 2007 season was awful for a lot of reasons, but poor quarterback and running back play was a huge part of it.
Despite Croyle nearly being handed the starting quarterback job on a silver platter, he still messed it up and Damon Huard was named the starter heading into the regular season.
The beginning of the season didn’t go too terribly, as the team actually posted a winning record at the bye week. It was all downhill from there, however, as the Chiefs went on to lose their final nine games and end the season with a 4-12 record.
The 2007 season was awful for a lot of reasons, but poor quarterback and running back play was a huge part of it. Croyle and Huard both were injured frequently, having to rotate back and forth who played, and neither was up for the task.
As for the running backs, Larry Johnson was injured after the bye week and the position never had stability after that.
The 2007 season was bad, but the followup year was even worse. More on that later.
Next: Number 5
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 5, 1982 (3-6)
In 1982, the Kansas City Chiefs were not successful despite a strike-shortened season. It’s too bad because the team went 9-7 the year prior and there was a lot of hope for this team heading into 1982.
The team went 1-1 to start the year off and then the strike began, which resulted in seven games being canceled. When football resumed, the Chiefs showed how rusty they were, as they lost their first four games.
Unfortunately, the 1980s just wasn’t a great decade for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Joe Delaney, the team’s star rookie running back in 81, had a sophomore slump season, resulting in him only earning 380 yards and not getting into the end zone once. Delaney had had surgery on his detached retina, which could have resulted in his poor final season in the NFL.
Marv Levy was relieved of his head coaching duties at the season’s end, and the franchise hoped to move on from yet another poor season.
Unfortunately, the 1980s just wasn’t a great decade for the Kansas City Chiefs, and you’ll see one more season within that span on this list.
Next: Number 4
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 4, 1977 (2-12)
Ooh boy. Now we’re getting into some just flat out horrendous seasons, and one of those was in 1977, where the KC Chiefs finished the year with only two wins and 12 losses.
The team started the year off with an 0-5 record and head coach Paul Wiggins was fired after they were 1-6 after seven weeks of play. The game that decided Wiggins’ fate was a 44-7 shellacking by the Cleveland Browns in week seven.
Tom Bettis was named interim head coach and only led the team to one more victory. Needless to say, Bettis did not win the head coach job for the following year come season’s end. In fact, he was actually let go all together at the end of the abysmal 2-12 season that resulted in the team yet again missing the playoffs.
The perks of the team sucking so badly in the 1977 season, however, was that they “earned” the second overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft and selected Art Still.
Still went on to become a Hall of Fame linebacker, which was needed in Kansas City since the 1977 season was the last for Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch, two of the team’s best defensive players ever.
As bad as the 1977 season was for the Kansas City Chiefs, we still have three more terrible seasons to cover.
Next: Number 3
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 3, 1987 (4-11)
Ahhh, the 1980s… Easily the worst decade in the history of Kansas City Chiefs football.
Throughout the 80s, the Chiefs made the playoffs once. That particular playoff appearance came in 1986, which definitely set the bar for Chiefs Kingdom the following season.
Instead, the Chiefs were once again effected by a player’s strike, having one game canceled, and having replacement players participate in three games for the team. The replacement players went 0-3, putting Kansas City at 1-4 on the season.
They won three of their last five games, but a large part of the struggles came from poor quarterback play (they had five different quarterbacks taking snaps throughout the season).
The Chiefs never got back on their feet even upon the return of the regulars. They continued to lose and had a nine-game losing streak at one point.
They won three of their last five games, but a large part of the struggles came from poor quarterback play (they had five different quarterbacks taking snaps throughout the season).
The 1987 was a dreadful one for the KC Chiefs, but a positive was the emergence of running back Christian Okoye, who had over 100 yards rushing in his first game in the pros.
The Chiefs also had four Pro Bowl players in 1987: Carlos Carson, Bill Maas, Albert Lewis, and Deron Cherry.
With their lousy 1987 season behind them, the Chiefs selected Neil Smith with the second overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft. He went on to become one of the team’s best defensive players of all-time.
The 1980s was a grim decade for Chiefs football, but 1987 is the last season from that decade that will appear on this list. We still have two other seasons that were worse.
Next: Number 2
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 2, 2008 (2-14)
The 2007 season was mentioned above as being one of the worst seasons in team history, and it was followed up by an even worse season.
The 2008 season saw the Chiefs trotting out the youngest squad in the league as a part of Herm Edwards’ “youth movement” in Kansas City. This particular movement caused Edwards to trade Trent Green to Miami, leaving Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle as the starters in 2007.
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Those two guys returned to run the offense in 2008, but neither could remain healthy enough to take the field. That led to third-string quarterback Tyler Thigpen taking the reigns in week seven of the regular season.
Say what you will about Tyler Thigpen, but the guy had talent and could put up points. It wasn’t his fault that the Chiefs had no defense to protect the lead.
In fact, Kansas City lost seven games that year by seven points or less, proving that the offense could keep things close. The defense also allowed 54 points against the Buffalo Bills, which is flat-out embarrassing.
Perhaps some of the defensive collapse in 2008 came from the team trading Jared Allen to Minnesota and the karma that followed with all of that. The defense struggled and there was only so much Thigpen could do to keep the Chiefs in games.
While a lot of these atrocious seasons had some type of silver lining for the Chiefs down the stretch, the 2008 season really didn’t have one.
The Chiefs were 1-10 at one point during the 2008 season and ended the year only tacking on one more win to end the year at 2-14. It was the franchise’s worst season at the time and a lot of guys lost their jobs at the end of the season.
Herm Edwards was let go, only spending three years as Kansas City’s head coach and general manager Carl Peterson was relieved of his duties as well.
While a lot of these atrocious seasons had some type of silver lining for the Chiefs down the stretch, the 2008 season really didn’t have one. Jared Allen was gone. Tony Gonzalez (one of the team’s two Pro Bowlers in 2008) was traded following the end of 2008, as he was tired of playing for a rebuilding team.
The Chiefs also kept Brodie Croyle on their roster for 2009 rather than Tyler Thigpen, which I still to this day don’t understand. Oh, and they hired Scott Pioli and Todd Haley as a result of the crappy 2008 season.
Just what season could be worse than the pile of manure that was 2008? Let’s find out.
Next: Number 1
Worst seasons in Kansas City Chiefs history: No. 1, 2012 (2-14)
Sigh.
The 2012 season for the Kansas City Chiefs was just downright horrible from the first snap of the season to the final snap of the season. It was one of the few times during a season where I just couldn’t wait for football to be over with so that I didn’t have to watch the Chiefs get embarrassed.
It was THAT bad.
The Chiefs were an absolute joke and were the laughing stock of the NFL that year. It was excruciating to watch week after week.
It was bad to the point where just a few minutes into the first quarter, you knew the game wouldn’t end well. I’m as big a Chiefs fan as they come and even I couldn’t stomach watching how bad the Chiefs were that year. It was painful.
I’m as big a Chiefs fan as they come and even I couldn’t stomach watching how bad the Chiefs were that year. It was painful.
The 2011 season provided some hope for Chiefs fans heading into 2012, as the team showed some spark that year. Instead, we were treated to horrible football and a season that fans want to forget ever existed.
Romeo Crennel had taken over as the team’s interim head coach after Todd Haley was fired midway through 2011, so 2012 was his first full year on the job. Yeah, let’s just say Crennel wasn’t cut out for this whole head coach thing.
One of the biggest problems on the team was that the offense was downright horrendous. Those problems stemmed from the quarterback position (or lack thereof).
Matt Cassel was the unquestioned starter heading into the season, but showed pretty early on that he was not the answer for the team (more on that later).
Next: More on the 2012 season
Very little went right for the Chiefs during their 2012 campaign.
Some of the low points during the 2012 season came when Cassel was injured in a week five game against Baltimore, and Chiefs fans “cheered” him being injured. This caused offensive lineman Eric Winston to fire off a hot take on how Chiefs fans were terrible people and how he was absolutely disgusted with their behavior.
There was another point during the season where a plane flew over Arrowhead Stadium with the message “Save our Chiefs”, requesting Scott Pioli be fired and Matt Cassel be run out of town.
The Chiefs had only won two games and “earned” the first overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. It was the first time the Chiefs held the number one overall pick in any draft.
You know a season is bad when the fans are pushing for Brady Quinn to be the starting quarterback, but that’s what 2012 came to. Quinn started eight games and only threw two touchdown passes during that time.
Near the end of the year, the team had a tragic moment when linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend and later shot himself in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot. It was a dark day in Kansas City and in the NFL, and the game the next day was nearly canceled as a result.
The Chiefs went on to win that game against Carolina with Brady Quinn having one of the best starts of his career. It was a win that meant a lot to the city after one of the darkest days Kansas City had ever experienced.
When the season finished up, the Chiefs had only won two games and “earned” the first overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. It was the first time the Chiefs held the number one overall pick in any draft, and of course, it was the one year where no decent quarterbacks were available to take number one overall.
Next: Finishing up on 2012 and wrap up
The 2012 season is easily the worst in team history because there was very little positivity coming from the team that year.
Romeo Crennel and Scott Pioli were both fired after the season wrapped up, and in came the new era of Kansas City Chiefs football: The John Dorsey and Andy Reid era.
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Remember how I said most of these bad seasons had a silver lining? 2012 had one for sure, and that was that it brought Dorsey and Reid to Kansas City. It also encouraged the Chiefs to trade for Alex Smith, who has been one of the franchise’s best quarterbacks since arriving in 2013.
The 2012 season set the tone for the KC Chiefs organization. The team had a lot of talent on the roster that year, which was showcased by their six Pro Bowl players.
Since Reid and Smith arrived in Kansas City, the Chiefs have not had a losing season and won a Super Bowl in 2020.
Next: Ten Best Seasons in Chiefs History
While it might not be fun reading through all of these terrible seasons, hopefully, it will show Chiefs fans that the team has a good thing going right now. The Kansas City Chiefs are in their “Super Bowl window” and that’s something that seemed unthinkable during the 2012 season.
It just shows how a good general manager, good head coach, and good quarterback can completely change the direction of a franchise.