Kansas City Chiefs fared well throughout the 16-game era

The Kansas City Chiefs had a winning record in the 16-game era of the NFL, which is coming to an end with the addition of a 17th game taking place for 2021. 

In 1978, the NFL expanded the regular season to 16 games, which was the norm for the league until this past season. The league is expected to add a 17th game in 2021 and it’s been reported that the Kansas City Chiefs‘ extra opponent this year will be the winner of the NFC North, so in this case, the Packers.

Well, after 40+ years of having 16 regular-season games, how did the Chiefs do during this time? Before I show you the results, let’s talk it out.

When the 16-game schedule was implemented, the Chiefs were not a great team. It took until year four of the new schedule for Kansas City to notch a winning record and even then, they barely did so with a 9-7 final record in 1981.

The 1980s were a terrible decade for the Chiefs. They didn’t start to turn things around until Marty Schottenheimer (R.I.P.) was hired to take over as the head coach in 1989 and from there, the Chiefs had a winning record for nine straight years.

After continuing to flounder in the playoffs, Schottenheimer resigned and the Chiefs fell back into irrelevancy for quite some time. Aside from one really good season, the 2000s were another rough decade for this franchise and that’s why I was surprised to see the Chiefs with a record well-over .500.

I know they’re currently on an eight-season win streak, but with how bad this team was both before Andy Reid came to town in 2013 and before Schottenheimer was named head coach in 1989, it felt like the bad would outweigh the good.

When it was all said and done, the Chiefs finished 12th in the league in the 16-game schedule era. They were the second-best team in the AFC West, as the Broncos were better and actually finished third overall. This could be attributed to the John Elway years as well as the Peyton Manning era (though that only lasted five years). The Chargers and Raiders both finished with losing records.

The KC Chiefs were in the top half of the league during the 16-game era.

Looking at where this franchise was in 2012 and seeing where it’s at now, it’s impressive what Andy Reid has been able to do. When I initially saw this tweet, I figured the Chiefs would be somewhere in the 19-20-21 range simply because of their two rough decades in the ’80s and ’00s, but they definitely exceeded my expectations.

What do you think Chiefs fans? Does this final spot surprise you or does it seem right for the Kansas City Chiefs?