KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missing the playoffs wasn’t the only thing that happened for the first time since 2014.

The Chiefs had just 14 takeaways, fewest by an Andy Reid team since that ’14 season. That figure was tied for the fourth fewest in the league in 2025, trailing only the Dallas (12), Washington (10) and the New York Jets (four).

“Yeah, we were talking about that coming into this year,” linebacker Nick Bolton said Monday, addressing the shortage of takeaways. “Last year, we didn’t have a number we wanted, lower than what we had the years prior. This year was lower than that one. So, we definitely went to offseason last year trying to attack that, trying to find ways to get the ball out.”

The Chiefs had 20 takeaways in 2024, six more than their 2025 total of 14. They had 17 in 2023 and only 12 in 2022.

Why lack of takeaways was so impactful in 2025

But unlike the 2025 season, the offense in 2022 was much more explosive, leading the league in yards per play (6.43), yards per game (413.6) and points per game (29.2). In 2025, the lack of takeaways was compounded by a lackluster offense that finished 23rd in yards per play (5.14), 20th in yards per game (320.6) and 21st in points (21.3).

Kansas City also finished a league-worst 1-9 in one-score games, and desperately could’ve used more takeaways to improve that mark.

Dropped interceptions and lack of recoveries

In one of the most stunning figures from the ’25 NFL season, the Jets failed to get a single interception. And while the Chiefs weren’t that bad, Kansas City was tied with the Jets for the second-fewest fumble recoveries in the league (four), behind only Washington (two).

That marked the fewest opponent fumbles recovered by a Chiefs defense in 13 years under Reid, fewer than the six Kansas City recovered in 2020.

The Chiefs also posted just 12 interceptions, an especially frustrating figure considering that the team dropped 10 interceptions, including Nohl Williams’ drop in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss in Las Vegas.

“We got some hands on some balls in the season,” Bolton said. “So, that was an important emphasis for us. … I know I had three or four opportunities to give us the chance to give our offense a short field, get some points out of the drive, and also a couple other guys.

“So, just capitalizing on those missed opportunities and also just punching at the football. I mean, good things happen when you punch at the ball. So, as much as much as we can, we think we do a good job of it anyway, but just get more guys to the ball and get those opportunities, to get the ball out.”