To say that the Kansas City Chiefs' 2025 season is on life support is generous after losing 20-10 on Sunday Night Football, and falling below .500 for the second time this season. Now, there is nothing left but desperate hopes of running the table and a collapse from at least two of the teams sitting ahead of KC in the standings.
It's clear that it's desperation time for the Chiefs. The focus now isn't just on keeping their playoffs hope alive, but breathing some life back into a dynastic run that appears to be in very real trouble.
1. Chiefs' Offense Must Stop Searching for the Big Play
To point out that the KC offense is broken is an obvious understatement after the once-electric group scored 10 points in a must-win game. It was the cherry on top of an incredibly frustrating season that should have the Chiefs ready to try any and everything to get the offense going. With this in mind, it is time to return to the dink-and-dunk offense fans have been complaining about over the last two seasons. As frustrating as it was to watch the plodding and methodical drives, they were clearly effective.
Mahomes' average depth of target (aDOT) is up to 7.9 yards this year — well above his career average (7.6) and also his highest since 2020. But his current crop of wide receivers isn't exactly as threatening down the field as Tyreek Hill, mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson and Sammy Watkins.
In the 2025 season, it has been clear that Kansas City's offense is constantly searching for the big play, looking for Patrick Mahomes to get back on track and hit deep balls consistently. This has resulted in overthrows and wasted downs. Reid and Mahomes need to understand the limitations of the offense and slow things down.
Dial the offense back to the basics and attempt to get back on track by maintaining slower drives and focusing on staying ahead of the sticks. As frustrating and odd a sentiment as it might be, the first step to fixing the KC offense is losing the fascination with forcing the big plays.
2. Put Chris Jones on the Outside
Of the Chiefs stars healthy for Sunday Night Football, Only Jones was able to play at a high level. He wreaked havoc in the backfield and was consistently creating pressure on C.J. Stroud. Still, it is time for the Chiefs to throw everything at the wall, and this includes putting Jones on the outside and allowing him to hunt the quarterback more often. For a man of his size, Jones runs incredibly well and is already utilized as an edge rusher sporadically.
Now, as Kansas City's season is on the brink and every option should be on the table, there's not much reason not to explore the move a bit more. Jones only has four sacks this season after having 10.5 in 2023 and 15.5 in 2022. His production has been declining when it comes to actually putting the quarterback on the ground.
This makes it clear that perhaps a change is in order, and moving Jones to the outside gives the Chiefs a far better chance to create mismatches and get to the quarterback with a pass rush that has been consistently average this season.
3. Mahomes' Constant Scrambles Must Stop
It is time for Mahomes to take off the cape and stop feeling the need to be Kansas City's leading rusher. While this might sound counterproductive to saving the 2025 season, bear with the reasoning for a moment. Now, the biggest factor in saving this season is getting Mahomes back on track and breathing new life into the offense. Mahomes has proven incredibly tough and durable but is taking far too many hits down the stretch of the season.
A piece of this is the quarterback's refusal to go down, always willing to attempt to truck a defender or fight for an extra yard. To put it simply, this is putting too many miles on a franchise quarterback who is going to need more in the tank for future Super Bowl runs. A part of saving this season is keeping Mahomes healthy, no matter how the playoff chase shakes out.
Andy Reid and the coaching staff need to focus on protecting their quarterback and getting him going inside the pocket. If the Chiefs are going to turn things around, they need Mahomes to be fully healthy to do it. If that means tightening the reins on Mahomes, which ties in with the point above about not forcing as much downfield, then so be it.