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With just four weeks left in the regular season, the Chiefs\u2019 postseason hopes are on life support.<\/p>\n
Kansas City\u2019s playoff odds are at just 14.2%, per ESPN, after the team\u2019s 20-10 loss Sunday night to Houston. At 6-7, the Chiefs have been officially eliminated from contention to win the AFC West, which they\u2019d won the previous nine seasons. So their only path to the postseason is as a wild-card team. And the three teams currently in wild-card spots (Bills, Chargers, Texans) all have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Kansas City.<\/p>\n
Here are five reasons why the Chiefs are on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014:<\/p>\n
Sunday night, when the Chiefs were down 17-10 facing a fourth-and-4 from their own 41, Patrick Mahomes delivered a pass to Rashee Rice on the money, but the third-year receiver dropped it.<\/p>\n
And with less than four minutes left, tight end Travis Kelce had back-to-back drops. He couldn\u2019t corral a first-and-10 pass that was a bit off target but catchable nonetheless, then bobbled a tight window throw, which was picked off by Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.<\/p>\n
Those miscues are representative of receiving shortcomings that have plagued the Chiefs all season. And it\u2019s not just drops (in pivotal moments).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an inconsistent deep passing game, despite all the speed they have on the outside. Mahomes is throwing deep (20-plus air yards) at his highest clip since 2020, but he\u2019s completed just a third of those attempts for one touchdown against three interceptions, according to Next Gen Stats.<\/p>\n
Chiefs pass-catchers have also had issues creating separation at times, including Sunday against Houston. Their leading receiver is a regressing, 36-year-old Kelce (727 receiving yards).<\/p>\n
NFL observers had high expectations for Kansas City\u2019s receiving group after Rice returned from his six-game suspension to start the season, but it hasn\u2019t lived up to expectations.<\/p>\n
The Chiefs had a dominant pass rush performance in Sunday\u2019s loss, led by Chris Jones, but their production in that department has been shaky overall this season. Kansas City is 23rd in sacks (25), 22nd in sack rate (5.6%) and 19th in pressures (156), per NGS.<\/p>\n
Part of the issue is that they haven\u2019t been getting home while blitzing \u2014 which they often do \u2014 leaving them vulnerable to getting gashed on the back end. Steve Spagnuolo\u2019s defense entered Week 14 blitzing at the fifth-highest rate in the league (33.8%) but generated pressure just 35.5% of the time, the fifth-lowest mark in the league, according to Next Gen Stats.<\/p>\n
For as well as Kansas City\u2019s defense played Sunday night (particularly in the second half), it allowed Houston to convert on eight of its 18 third-down attempts (44.4%), including a third-and-9 touchdown in the second quarter. The Texans had conversions on third-and-16 and third-and-17 as well.<\/p>\n
Getting off the field on third down has been an issue this season for the Chiefs, who rank 26th in third-down efficiency (43.1%). Kansas City is giving up an average of 6.0 plays per drive, tied for 14th in the league,\u00a0per Pro Football Reference.<\/p>\n
In the third quarter Sunday night, the Chiefs faced a third-and-2 at the Texans\u2019 18 inside the two-minute mark. Mahomes had an open Kareem Hunt in the flat for the easy conversion, but the QB\u2019s quick pass was high and behind the veteran running back, who couldn\u2019t make the catch. So instead of a fresh set of downs for a potential touchdown that would\u2019ve given the Chiefs the lead late in the game, they settled for a field goal that tied the contest at 10.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s minor miscues like that from Mahomes \u2014 independent of the Chiefs\u2019 pass-catching struggles and offensive-line injuries \u2014 that have played a role in the team\u2019s current predicament. After a strong finish to September\/October that had him in the MVP conversation, the six-time Pro Bowler hasn\u2019t been as sharp on the margins and in pivotal moments. There have been missed deep shots and bad passes.<\/p>\n
Mahomes has had a passer rating below 80 in four of the Chiefs\u2019 past five games, including a career-low 19.8 rating against the Texans.<\/p>\n
Veteran kicker Butker missed a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter of Sunday\u2019s loss, his fourth miss on 10 attempts of FGs of at least 40 yards this season.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s hit just 84.6% of his field goals in 2025, which ranks 20th, and he\u2019s hit 87.9% of his PATs, the fourth-worst rate in the league. He\u2019s missed the most extra points in the NFL this season (4).<\/p>\n
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With just four weeks left in the regular season, the Chiefs\u2019 postseason hopes are on life support.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"\n